UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


THE  HISTORIC  NOVELS 

OF 

JOIN  ESTEN  COOKE 


L— SURRY  OF  EAGLE'S  NEST. 

2.— MOHUN. 

3.— HILT  TO  HILT. 

L— OUT  OF  THE  FOAM. 

5.— HAMMER  AND  RAPIER. 

6.— FAIRFAX. 

7,— BEATRICE  HALLAM. 

8.— CAPTAIN  RALPH. 

9.— ROBERT  E.  LEE. 
10.— STONEWALL  JACKSON. 
11.-MISS  BONNYBELL. 
12.— LEATHER  AND  SILK. 
13.— COL.  ROSS  OF  PIEDMONT. 
14.— HER  MAJESTY  THE  QUEEN. 

The  thrilling  historic  stories  of  John  Esten  Cooke 
may  be  classed  among  the  best  and  most  popular  of 
all  American  writers.  The  great  contest  between  the 
States  was  the  theme  he  chose  for  his  Historic  Ro 
mances.  Following  until  the  close  of  the  war  the  for 
tunes  of  Stuart,  Ashby,  Jackson  and  Lee,  he  returned 
to  "  Eagle's  Nest,"  his  old  home,  where,  in  the  quiet 
of  peace,  he  wrote  volume  after  volume,  intense  in 
dramatic  intere_st.  There  is  not  a  dull  line  in  any  vol 
ume  of  his  writings.  His  books  should  be  in  every 
old  Confederate  soldier's  library,  and  should  be  read 
by  every  Southern  boy. 


Cloth  bound,  per  volume,  $1.50. 
Paper  covers,       "        60  cents. 

G*  W.  Dillingham  Co.,  Publishers, 
NEW  YORK. 


HAMMER  AND  RAPIER. 


BY 

JOHN  ESTEN  £OOKE, 

AUTHOR  OF 

SURRY  OF  EAGLE'S  NEST,"  "  MOHUN,"  "  HILT  TO 
HILT,"  ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK: 
G.    W.    Dillingham     Co.,   Publishers. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1870,  by 
GEORGE  W.  CARLETON, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


Copyright,  1898,  by  R.  POWELL  PAGE. 

ADMINISTRATOR  OP  THK  ESTATE  OF  JOHN  ESTKN  COOKS. 


Hammer  and  Rapier. 


TS 
I3 

HU 


CONTENTS, 


ft  rM 

§      MANASSAS       ••••••••••11 

n. 

PORT  REPUBLIC     .•••••••  85 

111 

SEVEN  PINES  AND  TEE  SEVEN  DATS        .       .       .       .      94 

IV. 

THE  SECOND  MANASSAS        ..•••••89 

V. 


BHAEPSBURQ     . 


FKEDEBICKSBUBO 


VL 


TO 


CHANCELLOBSVILLB 


GETTYSBUBO 


VHL 


115 


143 


168 


197 


B  CONTENT* 

EL 

THE  WILDERNESS— MAY  1864     ....  .    238 


BT  THE  LEFT  FLANK,  FROM  THE  "  HOHSESHOE  "  TO  THE 

CRATER    ..........    245 

XL 

EABLY'S  BATTWM  ......       .  265 


CL 

BETBEAT  AND  SUBBKHDKB      .      •      .  v    ,       , 


HAMMER  AND  RAPIER. 


OH  the  night  of  the  17th  of  July,  1961,  a  man, 
standing  upon  the  earthworks  at  ManaflBftH,  was  look 
ing  toward  Oentrevilla 

ThiB  man  was  of  medium  height — thin,  but  urn*- 
pnlar  •  with  a  sallow  countenance,  lips  covered  by  a 
heavy  black  mustache,  ecant  locks  at  the  temples,  and 
deep,  dark  eyes,  in  which  might  be  read  the  slum 
brous  spirit  of  "  fight  ^  obberrable  in  the  eyes  of  the 
bloud-hound. 

As  he  looked,  silent  and  motionless,  toward  Cen- 
treville,  something  which  resombled  a  shooting  star 
rose  slowly  from  the  surunit  of  the  woode,  des 
cribed  a  curve,  am*  thon  descended  Another  fol 
lowed  ;  then  another,  red  and  baleful. 

Thirty  minutes  afterwards  the  hoof-strokes  of  a 
horseman  were  heard;  «  voice  asked  for  General 
Bcaiiregard ;  the  silent  man  went  forward,  and 
opening  the  dispatch  which  the  courier  brought,  per- 
used  it  with  calm  attention.  That  dispatch  an- 


IS  MAJHA8SAS. 

nounced  that  (Jen.  Bon ham,  eommaml.eig  the  ad 
vance  force  of  the  Southern  army,  had  retired  before 
the  "Grand  Army"  of  the  United  States,  and  was 
now  in  position  upon  the  heights  of  Centruville,  six 
miles  from  Munassas. 

What  was  the  "Grand  Army,"  and  upoL  what 
errand  had  it  come?  The  replv  to  these  questions 
would  fill  an  octavo,  but  fortunately  everybody  cau 
answer  them  without  prompting.  The  great  masses 
of  blue  soldiers  —  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery  — 
had  come  to  "  crush  the  rebellion,"  by  one  great  "  on 
to  Richmond ; "  a  short,  sharp,  and  decisive  cam 
paign  was  to  terminate  all,  and  the  broken  chain  of 
the  Union  would  be  mended  promptly  by  the  huge 
clashing  sledge-hammer  of  battle. 

In  regard  to  the  time  required  to  effect  this  end, 
there  was  little  difference  of  opinion  at  the  North. 
One  journalist  wrote,  "The  nations  of  Europe  may 
rest  assured  that  Jeff.  Davis  &  Co.  will  be  swinging 
from  the  battlements  of  Washington,  at  least  by  the 
Fourth  of  July;  we  spit  upon  a  later  and  longer 
deferred  justice."  Another  said,  "  Let  us  make  quick 
work ;  the  '  rebellion,'  as  some  people  designate  it,  is 
an  unborn  tadpole — .a  'local  commotion' — a  strong, 
active  pull  together  will  do  our  work  effectually  in 
thirty  days."  A  third  said,  "No  man  of  sense  can 
for  a  moment  doubt  that  this  much-ado-about-noth- 
ing  will  end  in  a  month.  The  rebels,  a  mere  band 
of  ragamuffins,  will  fly  like  chaff  before  the  wind  of 
our  approach." 

These  vaticinations  had  inspired  the  people  of  the 
N  3rth  with  a  sort  of  madness.  The  thirst  for  battle 


li 


»nd  conquest  burned  hi  3  very  vein.  Vast 
of  volunteers  rushed  to  hie  standard,  and  in  tlieii 
hands  were  placed  the  best  and  most  approved  wea 
pons  for  the  great  blow  to  be  struck  at  the  South. 

At  the  beginning  of  July  this  army  numbered  >vei 
fifty  thousand  men,  and  never  did  troops  take  the 
field  more  admirably  equipped.  Long  trains  of  ex 
cellent  rifled  artillery;  rifled  muskets,  with  barrela 
shining  like  silver  :  carbines,  pistols,  sabres  ;  luxurious 
rations,  preserved  meats,  condensed  milk,  coffee  al 
ready  ground  and  mingled  with  sugar,  wines,  cor 
dials,  liqueurs  ;  '  havelocks  '  to  keep  off  the  burning 
southern  sun,  buskins  to  exclude  the  southern  dust, 
oilcloths  to  protect  from  southern  dews  —  such  were 
some  of  the  appliances  for  fighting  and  campaign 
ing  which  the  men  of  the  Grand  Army  brought 
with  them  when  they  advanced  upon  Manassae 

At  that  place,  soon  to  become  historic,  Beauregard 
awaited  them,  with  twenty  thousand  men,  which  he 
had  disposed  behind  earthworks  along  the  southern 
bank  of  Bull  Run  —  a  little  stream  which,  rising  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Aldie,  winds  about  amid  fields 
and  roads  until  it  falls  into  the  Occoquan. 

We  have  seen  that,  on  the  17th  of  July,  the  Grand 
Army  had  pushed  forward  to  Centreville  after  Bon- 
ham,  who  retired  before  them.  They  had  gutted 
Acnandale  .  and  Fairfax  ;  burned  Germantown  ;  con- 
dnued  their  way  ;  and  now,  on  the  night  of  this  17th 
>f  July  paused  in  front  of  the  Centreville  Heights  to 
take  oreath  before  advancing  upon  the  iruzzles  of  the 
Southern  cannon. 

Beauregard  was  quickly  in  the  saddle,  and  touriera 
s 


14  XANAJ3BA& 

were  seen  galloping  in  every  direction,  carrying  orden 
to  the  various  commanders.  These  orders  were: 
(let  the  troops  under  arms;  form  line  of  battle; 
the  enemy  will  be  here  at  daylight. 

A  solitary  officer  at  the  same  time  left  Manassas  at 
full  speed,  and  disappeared  toward  the  mountains. 
He  carried  to  Gen.  Johnson,  facing  Pattersor  n.  -he 
V alley,  the  message  from  Beauregard :  "  If  you  wish 
to  help  me,  now  is  the  time." 

Beauregard  hastened  then  toward  the  front.  On 
the  way,  an  officer  said  to  him: 

"The  battle  will  be  here,  General  I " 

"Yes." 

"  The  battle  of  « Bull  Run.'    That  is  a  bad  name." 

"  It  is  as  good  as  *  The  Cowpens,'  was  the  reply." 

At  midnight  the  troops  were  in  line  of  battle, 
grasping  their  muskets,  or  crouching  beside  the  can 
non,  whose  grim  muzzles  gleamed  in  the  watch-fires. 

Beauregard's  right,  under  Ewell,  was  at  Union 
Mills;  his  centre,  under  Longstreet,  at  Blackburn's 
and  Mitchell's  fords ;  his  left,  under  Cocke  and 
Evans,  near  Stonebridge,  in  front  of  whose  pictur 
esque  brown  arch  the  huge  trees  had  been  felled, 
forming  an  abattis.  This  line  was  eight  miles  long 

The  first  attack  was  expected  at  Mitchell's  ford, 
the  centre  of  the  Southern  line  where,  behind  the 
c&nnon  frowning  from  the  embrasures  above  the 
ford  and  level  stretch  beyond,  the  gray  infartry 
wero  lying  in  line  of  battle,  in  the  pine  thickets. 

Toward  daylight  a  dull,  muffled  sound  came  borne 
upon  the  wind  from  the  direction  of  Centreville.  It 
was  Bonham'«  column  falling  back.  Then  sorre  shuts 


MANAJ3SA&  IB 

resounded, — the  calvary  rear  guard  were  iktrrJahing 
with  the  advance  of  the  enemy. 

Then,  as  day  approached,  dusky  gray  masses  appeared 
beyond  the  stream ;  the  rumble  of  artillery  made  the 
woods  murmur ;  half  an  hour  afterwards  Bonham  was 
within  the  lines. 

As  broad  day  dawned,  a  sudden  roar  came  from  the 
hill  beyond  the  stream, —  Romper's  battery,  which  had 
just  saluted  the  advancing  enemy,  came  back  at  a  gal 
lop —  the  signal  gun  of  the  first  Manassas  had  beer 
fired. 

An  hour  afterwards  the  Grand  Army  was  in  face  of 
Beauregard  —  their  splendid  cavalry  was  seen  opening 
right  and  left,  and  unmasking  their  superb  artillery, — 
a  thundering  salvo  came,  the  shell  tearing  through  the 
trees,  and  blowing  up  caissons  —  the  drama  had  begun. 

The  first  design  of  Gen.  McDowell,  commanding 
the  Federal  army  had  been  to  turn  the  Southern  right. 
"  My  personal  reconnoissance  of  the  roads  to  the  South," 
he  wrote,  "  had  shown  that  it  was  not  practicable  to 
carry  out  the  original  plan  of  turning  the  enemy's 
position  on  their  right. 

The  alternative,  therefore,  was  to  turn  the  extreme 
left  of  his  position."  What  is  called  "  The  Battle  of 
the  Eighteenth "  showed  Gen.  McDowell  the  imprac 
ticable  nature  of  his  first  design. 

This  was  scarcely  more  than  a  skirmish,  but  an  ob 
stinate  one.  Longstreet  was  there  at  Blackburn's  ford, 
with  twelve  hundred  muskets — the  troops  occupying 
the  level,  low  grounds,  unprotected  except  by  a  sort  of 
elongated  mole  hill,  which  they  had  thrown  up  with 
their  bayonets.  Behind  this  they  were  lying  down. 


16  MANASSA& 

Oil  the  opposite  side  of  the  stream,  the  ground  was 
high,  wooded,  and  excellent  for  attack.  The  advance 
force  of  the  enemy  occupying  it  was  about  t-hree 
thousand  infantry,  with  artillery. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  attack  began,  under  cover  of  an 
artillery  fire,  and  Longstreet's  advance  was  speedily 
driven  across  the  stream.  Then  the  enemy  pressed 
forward  with  cheers. 

But  they  gained  nothing.  They  were  met  by  a  close 
and  destructive  fire  of  musketry,  and  fell  back.  Thei 
they  charged  again,  and  were  again  repulsed.  They 
charged  a  third  time,  —  nearly  gained  the  bank,  but 
were  driven  back  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  and 
retired. 

Longstreet,  calm,  silent,  and  smoking  his  cigar,  went 
to  his  artillery  on  the  slope  in  rear,  and  directed  the 
"  duel "  which  now  began  between  the  opposing  guns. 
His  battery  was  the  "  Washington  Artillery  "  of  New 
Orleans,  and  it  fired  superbly.  After  four  years'  fight 
ing,  in  half  a  hundred  battles,  it  attained  no  greater 
skill  than  it  displayed  in  this  first  action.  As  the  guns 
now  opened,  and  the  enemy  replied,  —  their  shell  tear 
ing  down  limbs  of  trees,  and  screaming  like  unloosed 
devils,  —  the  infantry,  crouching  in  the  plain,  looked 
up  with  a  sort  of  wondering,  childish  curiosity.  When 
a  sudden  crash  across  the  stream  was  heard,  and  a 
cloud  of  smoke  rose  from  a  blown-up  caisson,  they 
laughed  and  cheered  like  school-boys. 

The  assault  on  Longstreet  showed  that  Beauregard'g 
right  could  not  be  turned.  As  to  his  centre,  at  Mitch 
ell's  ford,  there  was  even  less  hope  of  breaking  through 
the  earth- works  bristling  with  cannon,  behind  which, 


MAJHAJS8A&  It 

ill  the  pines,  were  drawn  up  the  long  lines  of  ba/oneta 
Even  if  the  blue  masses  were  able  to  sweep  over  those 
sullen  war-dogs,  awaiting  with  grim  muzzles  an  I  burn 
ing  port  n'res,  like  the  glare  of  red  eyes,  they  -vould 
find  still  in  their  path,  beyond,  that  obstinate  hedge 
of  steel  behind  which  the  lightning  slumbered.  The 

o  o 

centre, — on  the  straight  road  to  Manassas,  — was  thus 
even  less  "practicable"  than  the  right.  The  left  only 
remained. 

It  was  to  the  left,  then,  that  the  brave  and  skillful 
McDowell  turned  his  eyes.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
he  was  disheartened.  He  had  about  fifty  thousand  in 
fantry,  nine  regiments  of  cavalry,  and  twelve  batteries 
of  rifled  artillery,  numbering  forty-nine  gnns.  Beau- 
rogard  had  twenty-one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
thirty-three  muskets,  twenty-nine  pieces  of  artillery, 
almost  all  smooth-bore,  and  about  three  companies  of 
cavalry,  —  for  Johnston,  it  must  be  remembered,  had 
not  yet  arrived.  Thus  McDowell  could  bring  more 
than  two  to  one  of  all  arms,  against  his  adversary. 

Does  any  reader  question  the  accuracy  of  this  state 
ment?  We  reply  that  Gen.  Beauregard  is  our  au 
thority.  His  own  numbers  he  states  officially;  the 
enemy's  he  states  upon  Federal  authority. 

It  will  thus  be  understood  that  General  McDowell 
did  not  despair.  As  to  the  army,  and  the  great  crowd 
of  camp-followers,  they  would  have  regarded  the  ex 
pression  of  a  doubt  as  to  the  ultimate  result,  a  species 
of  insult.  Never  did  a  stranger  or  more  motley  rout 
than  that  crowd  of  hangers-on,  assemble  in  the  wake 
of  an  army.  A  ship  leaves  foam  in  its  wake  as  it 
moves,  —  the  Grand  Army  seemed  to  carry  with  it  a 


If  MANA£bA£ 

great  mass  of  scura.  Editors,  idlers,  Congressmen, 
correspondents,  ladies  even,  flocked  to  GentrevTJle  aa 
to  a  festival.  None  seemed  to  regard  it  as  a  festival 
of  death  at  all,  but  rather  as  a  day  of  carnival.  "WTiile 
vaiting  for  the  thunder  from  "  the  mysterious  Virginia 
yoods,"  the  crowd  moved  to  and  fro,  ruffled  its  plumes, 
rustled  its  silks,  drank  its  champagne,  cracked  its  jests, 
made  its  bets,  and  speculated  upon  the  delightful  jaunt 
it  would  make  to  Richmond,  after  riding  over  the  bat 
tle-field,  strewed  with  the  rebel  dead, — once  thei? 
brethren. 

Does  any  reader  say  that  this  is  rhetoric  —  mere 
fancy  ?  Alas !  it  is  true ;  and  whether  it  pleases  or 
offends  matters  little.  Truth  is  no  respecter  of  events 
or  persons,  and  is  her  own  vindication.  It  was  the  late 
Mr.  Lincoln  who  uttered  that  profound  and  solemn 
maxim,  worthy  of  the  great  monarch  of  the  Jews, — 
"  You  cannot  avoid  history ! " 

That  singular  spectacle  took  place  on  Friday  and 
Saturday,  the  19th  and  20th  of  July.  Gen.  McDowell 
had  no  part  in  it.  There  is  a  personage  more  bitter, 
bloody,  and  implacable  than  the  soldier :  it  is  the  civil 
ian.  The  Federal  commander  had  too  great  a  weight 
upon  his  shoulders  to  laugh  and  caper.  The  great 
problem  was  unsolved ;  Beauregard  was  still  in  his 
path ;  the  perilous  flank  movement  of  the  United  States 
forces  against  the  Confederate  le*t  absorbed  M^  Dowell's 
whole  attention. 

On  the  southern  side  of  Bull  Run  the  aspect  of 
affairs  had  undergone  a  very  great  change.  The 
officer  sent  to  Johnston  had  killed  his  horse,  but  he 
had  delivered  his  message  in  time.  By  noon  OB 


MANASSAA  It 

Saturday,  the  20th,  the  bulk  of  JohrstonV  "Armj 
of  the  Shenandoah"  —  about  8,000  men --was  at 
Manassas.  At  midnight,  Johnston,  the  cold,  calm 
silent  Virginian,  was  consulting  with  Beaiiregarvi 
the  fiery,  but  self-possessed  and  reticent  Creole 
Upon  the  tanned  and  ruddy  face  of  Johnston,  with 
its  English  side-whiskers,  its  fixed  gray  eye,  and 
iron  mouth,  as  upon  the  brunette  countenance  of 
Beauregard  with  its  "fighting  jaw,"  broad  brow,  and 
eyes  inflamed  by  watching,  was  seen  by  those  aronnd 
them,  the  expression  of  a  firm  and  moveless  purpose. 

That  was  to  deliver  battle  where  they  were,  to  put 
all  upon  the  issue,  and  to  drive  the  enemy  back,  or 
dia 

An  army  leader  should  have  the  fepring  of  the 
tiger,  and  the  obstinate  hold  of  the  bull-dog.  It  is 
not  mere  eulogy  but  truth  to  say  that  the  Virginian 
and  the  Lcuisianian  had  both — the  first  more  of  the 
the  last — the  last  more  of  the  first. 

At  two  hours  past  midnight  —  that  is  to  eay,  to 
ward  dawn  of  Sunday,  July  the  21st,  couriers  reached 
Manassas  with  important  intelligence.  A  reconnois- 
pance  beyond  the  stream,  in  front  of  Stouebridge, 
had  developed  the  fact  that  Gen.  McDowell  was 
massing  his  army  on  the  Warrentoii  road,  leading 
from  Centreville  across  Stonebridge,  toward  the 
South,  and  that  every  probability  existed  of  an  at 
tack  in  force,  at  an  early  1  our  in  the  morning,  upon 
the  Confederate  left. 

Sitting  in  a  private  room  of  the  small  house  at 
Manassas,  which  Beauregard  then  occupied  as  hii 
headquarters,  the  two  Generals  listened  to  this  ia> 


SO  MA1TAS&A& 

telligence,  dismissed  every  one,  consubed,  and  de 
^ermined  npon  their  plan  of  action. 

It  was  simple,  and  was  suggested  by  BeaTire^ard 
— that  active,  vigorous,  and  trenchant  mind  of  cul 
tivated  acumen  and  trained  genius.  As  soon  as  tht 
movements  of  the  enemy  had  fully  established  die  de 
sign  attributed  to  them  to  turn  the  Southern  left  flank, 
the  Confederate  right  and  centre  was  to  throw  itself 
across  Bull  Run,  advance  straight  upon  Centre  ville, 
assail  the  Federal  forces  in  flank  and  averse,  and  cut 
off,  break  to  pieces,  and  capture  or  destroy  them. 

This  movement  required  coolness,  nerve,  and  skill 
Ewell,  Longstreet,  and  Bonham  were  relied  on.  At 
four  o'clock  the  plan  was  all  arranged ;  orders  were 
sent  to  the  commanders  of  the  right  and  centre  to  hold 
their  troops  in  hand  to  move  upon  the  enemy  at  a 
moment's  warning;  then  the  two  Generals  waited, 
•watching  the  day  as  it  slowly  dawned  beyond  the  belt 
of  woods. 

It  was  ushered  in  with  a  low  continuous  thunder,  in 
the  direction  of  Stonebridge ;  and  above  the  tree-tops 
rose  those  clouds  of  snowy  smoke  which  mark  the  field 
of  battle. 

What  was  the  origin  of  that  menacing  cloud,  which 
shone,  against  the  blue  sky,  lit  by  the  first  beams  of 
day? 

The  reply  is  easy. 

During  the  entire  night,  General  McDowell  had 
been  moving.     Leaving  behind  him  at  Centreville  a 
rear-guard  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  men,  he  had 
pushed  his  main  body  forward,  over  a  narrow  and  al 
unknown  road,  through  the  sombre  depths  of  the 


ALUfASSAA 

*Big  Fcrest,"  emerged  from  its  shadow,  and  was  ncn* 
uastening  forward  to  deliver  the  gigantic  blow  which 
hia  active  brain  had  planned  in  his  tent  at  Centrpville 

Hi*  plan  was  excellent:  while  Hunter  and  IJeint 
zelmeri,  with  their  strong  di visions,  poshed  for  Sodlej 
ford,  beyond  the  Confederate  left,  strong  bodies  were 
to  take  position  opposite  Stonebridge,  Red  House,  and 
other  fords,  with  orders  to  divert  the  attention  of 
Beauregard  by  heavy  demonstrations,  as  though  de 
signing  there  to  pass  the  stream.  Under  cover  of 
these  feints,  the  column  of  Hunter  was  to  cross  at 
Sudley;  sweep  down,  clearing  in  succession  every 
ford ;  the  forces  opposite  were  then  to  pass  over — 
thus  a  body  of  about  forty  thousand  men  would  be 
concentrated  at  sunrise  on  the  southern  bank  of  Bull 
Run,  directly  upon  Beauregaid's  left  flank. 

Then  the  game  would  be  as  good  as  won.  The  Con 
federates  were  scattered  all  along  the  stream  over  a 
distance  of  eight  miles,  and  several  hours  would  be  re 
quired  to  concentrate  a  sufficient  body  near  Stone- 
bridge.  But  before  that  could  be  done,  the  issue 
would  be  decided.  Falling  like  lightning  upon  the 
southern  flank,  General  Hunter  had  it  in  his  power  to 
drive  all  before  him :  Beauregard  must  hastily  evacu 
ate  his  works,  and  fall  back  on  Manassas  ;  then  a  bat- 
t!e  of  two  against  one — the  one  retreating  rapidly,  the 
two  Lotly  pursuing. 

Such  was  Hunter's  plan,  and  it  seemed  at  d%ylight 
Bure  of  success.  Hig  column  pushed  on  steadily ; 
passed  Bull  Run  and  the  little  Catharpin ;  moved  on, 
without  pausing;  and  at  half -past  eight  was  almost 
within  sight  of  the  Confederate  left. 


if  MANASSAA 

What  was  that  left  1 

The  reply  will  sound  ludicrous.  It  was  elevea 
hundred  men,  and  four  smooth-bore  siK-pcunders. 

One  thing,  it  is  true,  counted.  The  infantry  wei« 
Alabamians,  Mississippians,  and  Georgians,  command 
ed  by  such  men  as  Wheat.  The  artillery  were  Vir 
ginians,  commanded  by  that  brave.  Gray  Latham. 
The  whole  was  led  by  Evans,  that  veritable  grizzly 
bear,  with  the  shaggy  beard,  and  the  flashing  eyes,  who 
was  to  inflict  upon  the  enemy,  three  months  from  thia 
day,  the  bloody  disaster  of  Ball's  Bluff. 

He  was  opposite  Stonebridge,  and  the  Federal  force 
across  the  stream  had  duly  made  the  demonstrations 
ordered,  both  with  infantry  and  artillery.  A  swann 
of  sharpshooters  had  made  repeated  feints  to  cross, 
firing  rapidly  as  they  did  so ;  and  the  rattle  of  these 
popguns,  mingled  with  the  roar  of  the  Federal  artil 
lery,  completely  diverted  Evans'  attention  from  the 
thunderbolt  about  to  fall  upon  his  rear,  from  the  di 
rection  of  Sudley. 

It  was  nearly  nine  o'clock  before  that  approaching 
fate  sent  its  long,  warning  shadow  on  before,  to  his 
position  near  the  bridge.  Then  the  whole  extent  of 
the  mortal  peril  menacing  him,  became  obvious.  A 
mounted  man  came  at  a  thundering  gallop  to  announce 
that  a  great  host  of  the  enemy  were  closing  in  upon 
his  rear  to  crush  his  little  force  like  an  egg-shell. 

Evans  acted  as  he  always  did  —  like  the  heart  of 
oak  he  was.  Taking  eight  hundred  of  his  eleven  hun 
dred  infantry,  and  two  of  his  four  six- pounders,  ha 
hurried  to  the  scene  of  danger,  and  at  a  ocint  or  the 


MANASSAA 


Sudley-Brentsville  road,  west  of  the  Stone  House, 
struck  full  against  the  front  of  Hunter. 

A  single  glance  revealed  the  whole  extent  of  the 
danger.  Directly  before  the  eight-hundred  men  and 
two  guns  of  Evans,  were  the  sixteen  thousand  men 
of  Hunter,  with  seven  companies  cf  cavalry,  and 
twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery.  Opposite  Hod  House 
ford,  the  force  of  General  Keyes  was  about  to  cross ; 
that  at  Stonebridge  was  closing  in ;  more  than  thirty 
thousand  men  would  soon  be  opposed  to  less  than 
one  thousand ;  but  it  was  necessary  to  meet  and  arrest 
them,  or  die. 

No  other  course  was  left  Beauregard  must  have 
time  to  concentrate  his  forces  near  Stonebridge;  a 
new  line  of  battle  must  be  formed;  time  must  be 
purchased  with  blood.  The  little  force  of  Southern 
ers  went  forward  to  the  struggle  as  the  three  hundred 
of  Leonidas  took  post  between  the  walls  of  Thermo 
pylae. 

The  war  was  fruitful  in  heroic  deeds  but  it  offers  no 
braver  spectacle  than  this.  Hope  must  have  veiled 
her  face  for  that  handful  —  the  grave  yawned  before 
them.  There  was  no  possibility  of  victory  for  them* 
How  could  that  atom  arrest  for  a  single  instant  the 
mighty  machine  rolling  on  to  crush  it  ? 

A  commander  of  weak  nerves  might  have  asked 
himself  that  question.  It  never  occured  to  Evans. 
He  placed  his  six-pounders  on  the  hill  in  his  rear; 
drew  up  his  men ;  and  received  with  the  obstinacy  of 
a  bull  dog  the  furious  assault  of  the  enemy. 

It  was  the  Second  Khode  Island  Infantry,  supported 
by  six  thirteen-pound  rifles,  which  led  the  charge ;  and 


84  MANA8SAA. 

opposed  to  them  were  the  men  of  the  Fourth  Alabama 
The  lines  delivered  their  volleys  almost  breast  to 
breawt,  and  in  an  instant  the  field  was  one  great  cloud 
of  smoke,  from  which  rose  cheers,  yells,  groans, 
mingled  with  thunder. 

From  that  moment  the  conflict  became  one  oi 
enormous  bitterness,  and  the  Federal  forces  fought 
vith  a  gallantry  which  achieved  the  best  results. 
Evans  fought  like  a  tiger,  but  his  thin  line  was  almost 
annihilated  by  the  concentrated  fire  of  the  Federal 
musketry  and  cannon.  Wheat  fell,  and  was  borne 
from  the  field ;  all  around  Evans,  raging  like  a  wild 
boar,  his  men  were  falling.  Step  by  step,  he  was 
forced  back,  torn  and  bleeding. 

Still  the  thought  of  retreat  did  not  occur  to  him. 
It  was  necessary  to  fight  until  reinforcements  came, 
holding  that  precious  ground.  If  he  could  not  hold 
it,  then  it  was  necessary  to  die.  Blood  was  dear,  but 
time  was  beyond  all  estimate. 

Soon  the  moment  came,  however,  when  all  was 
plainly  over — when  a  handful  of  Southerners  only  re 
mained  and  the  conflict  was  no  longer  possible.  The 
enemy  pressed  on  with  cheers.  Evans  was  forced  back, 
fighting  desperately  at  every  step  —  when  all  at  once 
the  expected  reinforcements  came.  Descending  rap- 
Idly  from  the  Henry  Rouse  hill  in  his  rear  were 
seen  the  four  thousand  men  of  Bee  and  Bartow  —  and 
reaching  the  field,  General  Bee  took  command : 
formed  line  of  battle,  and  threw  himself  like  an 
athlete  against  the  victorious  enemy.  The  conflict 
which  followed  was  a  war  of  giants.  Bee  had  under 
him,  beudee  Evans'  remnant,  to  ir  regiments  and  four 


MAJTAS8A&  -" 

guns  —  to  this  the  enemy  opposed  eight  brigades  and 
their  great  force  of  cavalry  and  artillery.  But  IKW 
more  than  ever  it  was  necessary  to  hold  that  ground, 
for  Beauregard  was  moving,  and  Bee  was  the  one  of 
ten  thousand  for  the  work  before  him. 

From  the  moment  of  his  arrival  the  thunders  of 
battle  redoubled.  It  was  a  trained  and  full -armed 
gladiator,  however  small  of  stature,  which  threw  him 
self  against  the  Federal  Goliah  ;  and  the  conflict  was 
of  great  ferocity. 

"  I  salute  the  Eighth  Georgia  with  my  hat  off,"  said 
Beauregard  afterwards,  as  the  bleeding  survivors 
passed  him.  "  History  shall  never  forget  you !  " 

But  with  Bee,  as  with  Evans,  the  moment  of  fate 
was  to  come.  The  force  before  him  was  too  pon 
derous.  No  blows  against  it  told.  The  hammer  was 
shattered  by  the  anvil. 

By  main  force  of  merciless  fusilades,  and  storms  of 
shell  and  canister,  the  Southern  lines  were,  man  by 
man,  swept  to  perdition.  The  ground  was  drenched 
in  blood  ;  the  air  was  a  sulphur-cloud  ;  the  thin  line 
staggered  to  and  fro,  having  bid  farewell  to  hope. 
Then  an  incident  as  ludicrous  as  tragic  came  to  fin 
ish  alL  From  Red  House  ford  the  brigades  of  Sher 
man  were  seen  pressing  forward  to  envelope  the 
right  flank  of  the  main  band  of  Southerners.  It  was 
a  giant  closing  his  huge  hand  upon  a  fly  —  a  sledge 
hammer  raised  to  crush  an  insect.  In  thirty  minute? 
Bee  saw  that  his  brigade  would  be  annihilated :  and 
with  bitterness  of  heart  he  gave  the  order  to  retire 
towaid  the  high  ground  in  his  rear. 

At  the  word,  the  gray  line  fell  back,  fighting  itill,  but 
s 


96  MAJfAJSSAA 

in  disorder,  and  with  little  spirit.  The  men  were  brave 
—  never  were  soldiers  braver  than  those  Georgians, 
Alabamians  and  Mississippians  —  but  hope  had  de 
serted  them;  and  only  the  trained  troops  of  many 
battles  fight  when  every  chance  of  victory  has  dis 
appeared. 

Bee  saw  with  unutterable  anguish  that  the  retreat 
was  every  instant  threatening  to  become  a  panic- 
stricken  flight.  But  he  could  not  check  it.  In  vain 
did  he  ride,  sword  in  hand,  through  the  fire  which 
swept  Lis  lines,  beseeching  the  men  to  fall  back  in  good 
order,  and  not  fly.  His  voice  was  unheard,  or  his 
orders  unheeded.  The  merciless  volleys  from  the 
Federal  infantry  tore  all  to  pieces ;  the  hurricane  of 
canister  swept,  as  with  the  besom  of  destruction,  the 
whole  field  over  which  the  men  were  scattering,  mere 
fugitives. 

It  was  at  this  instant  —  when  Bee  was  mastered  by 
a  sort  of  fury  of  despair,  and  his  men  in  hopeless  rout 
— that  the  glitter  of  bayonets  was  seen  beyond  the 
Henry  House  hill.  Plunging  the  spurs  into  his  horse, 
Bee  went  to  meet  them,  and  found  himself  face  to 
face  with  a  soldier  in  an  old  gray  coat,  riding  a  bay 
horse.  A  yellow  cadet  cap  drooped  above  the  fore 
head  of  this  personage.  Under  its  run  a  pair  of  dark 
eyes  glittered. 

Bee,  covered  with  dust  and  sweat,  his  horse  foaming, 
his  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  stopped  suddenly  in  front 
*f  the  silent  man. 

u  General,  they  are  beating  us  back ! "  he  groaned. 

And  he  pointed  with  his  sword  to  the  blue  massei 


MA2TASSA&  VI 

were  pressing  his  disordered  troops,  with  that 
continuous  and  mortal  tire. 

Jackson  looked  in  the  direction  indicated.  Not  a 
feature  moved.  Then  his  eye  flashed  ;  a  slight  color 
came  to  his  cheek,  and  he  said,  in  his  calm,  biiei 
voice: 

"  Sir,  we  will  give  them  the  bayonet." 

There  are  words  which,  however  quietly  uttered, 
ring  in  the  ears  of  men  like  the  blast  of  a  bugle. 
These  of  Jackson  rang  thus  in  the  ears  of  Bee.  With 
out  repl)  he  wheeled  his  horse,  went  back  at  a  gallop 
to  hit  broken  lines,  and  pointing  with  his  sword  to 
•Tankeon,  shouted: 

"  Look !  there  is  Jackson  standing  like  a  stone  wall  1 
Let  us  determine  to  die  here,  and  we  will  conquer ! " 

His  men  thrilled  at  these  noble  words,  vibrating  in 
the  air  above  them  like  the  sound  of  a  clarion ;  shouts 
answered  them ;  the  lines  were  partially  restored ;  and 
once  more  holding  in  his  strong,  brave  grasp,  that  bat 
tered  and  splintered,  but  sharp  and  tempered  weapon, 
his  brigade,  Bee  took  position  ou  the  right  of  Jackson, 
halting  and  faciLg  the  great  masses  pressing  on  to 
crush  him. 

Then  was  witnessed  a  spectacle  which  made  the  pulses 
throb.  Il  was  that  presented  by  the  six  hundred  men 
of  Hampton,  meeting  front  to  front,  on  the  Warren- 
ton  road,  the  whole  division  of  Keyes,  and  driving  it 
back.  The  stubborn  blood  of  a  race  of  thorough- breda 
fought  that  day  in  the  veins  of  Wade  Hampton,  as  it 
fought  thereafter  upon  many  memorable  fields, 

There  are  men  whose  characters,  like  their  facea, 


28  MANAS8A& 

u  dare  you  to  forget."     Such  a  man  was  Hampton,  noi 
will  the  South  forget  him. 

But  the  moment  came  for  him,  as  it  had  come  foi 
Evans ;  as  it  had  come  for  Bee.  .Flanked  on  the  left, 
hip  line  swept  by  a  furious  fire  of  artillery  posted  near 
the  Old  Stone  House,  Hampton  was  compelled  to  fal 
back  in  order  to  escape  annihilation ;  he  did  so ;  took 
position  on  the  right,  like  Bee — then  Jackson,  with 
his  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  eleven  muskets, 
moved  forward,  slow,  unshaken,  silent  as  seme  ap 
proaching  fate. 

In  twenty  minutes  he  had  formed  line  of  battle  un 
der  the  eastern  crest  of  the  Henry  House  hill.  In 
front  of  his  men,  lying  down  to  escape  the  storm 
sweeping  over  them,  the  figure  of  the  Virginian  was 
seen  riding  to  and  fro,  his  lips  repeating  calmly 
"  Steady,  boys  I  steady,  all's  well !  "  In  front  of  his 
line  two  guns,  which  he  had  just  posted  there,  were 
steadily  firing. 

That  moment  was  the  turning  point  of  the  battle  of 
Manassas.  Had  the  enemy  advanced,  they  would  have 
swept  the  hill,  and  snatched  victory ;  for  nearly  thirty 
thousand  infantry,  and  about  thirty  pieces  of  artillery, 
besides  a  regiment  of  cavalry,  were  there,  right  in  front 
i)f  less  than  five  thousand  Southerners. 

They  did  not  attack  in  force  for  more  than  an  hour. 
Then  the  Southern  lines  were  ready. 

Johnston  and  Beauregard —  the  latter  directing  oper 
ations  under  the  former,  his  superior-  -had  determined 
to  light  the  decisive  battle  here.  WLy?  From  one  oi 
those  iatalities  which  prove  to  men  what  puppets  in 
the  hands  of  Providence  they  are. 


MANA88A&  99 

The  officer  sent  to  order  the  right  and  centre  to  move 
npon  the  enemy's  rear  at  Centreville,  had  failed  to  de 
liver  the  order,  or  had  delivered  it  too  late.  The  right, 
under  Ewell,  moved ;  the  centre,  under  Bonham,  re 
mained  in  the  trenches.  Thus  the  golden  moment 
passed  —  the  hand  upon  the  dial  of  destiny  points  to 
"too  late."  Johnston  and  BeauregarJ  went  on  their 
foaming  horses  in  the  direction  of  Stonebridge. 

There  the  opposing  lines  were  about  to  grapple  in  a 
mortal  struggle.  The  fate  of  a  continent  seemed  about 
to  be  decided  upon  the  slope  of  the  Henry  House  hill, 
amid  those  clumps  of  pines  and  green  cornfields  above 
which  hovered  the  lurid  cloud  of  battle.  Thunder, 
lightning,  and  tempest,  seemed  to  have  reached  their 
utmost  fury  there.  In  the  midst  of  smoke,  dust,  and 
uproar — the  diabolical  bass  of  artillery,  and  the  crash 
ing  treble  of  musketry —  the  blue  and  gray  lines  were 
about  to  rush  together  like  two  wild  animals  drunk 
with  blood,  and  bent  on  tearing  each  other  to  peices. 

Johnston  was  and  is,  and  ever  will  be,  a  brave  soldier 
—  a  fighter,  no  less  than  a  general.  He  seized  the 
colours  of  the  Fourth  Alabama,  shouted  to  the  men  to 
follow  him,  and  plunged  with  that  deadly  burden  into 
the  gulf  of  battle.  The  men  followed  him  with  wild 
cheers,  and  the  Alabamians  were  good,  from  that  in 
stant,  for  a  conflict  as  desperate  as  the  first. 

Beauregard  was  galloping  up  and  down  the  lines, 
with  his  diawn  sword  in  his  hand.  In  his  black  eyes 
burned  the  hard-fighting  Creole  blood;  his  sallow 
cheeks  were  flushed — at  that  moment,  as  he  darted  to 
and  fro,  calling  on  the  troops  to  die  in  defence  of  their 


JO  MAMAOSA& 

homes  and  altars,  it  was  one  of  the  great  Marshals  odf 
the  Empire  rallying  the  Old  Guard  of  Napoleon. 

In  thirty  minutes  the  broke  n  and  disheartened  lines 
of  Bee  and  Evans  \vere  as  firm  as  a  rock  again.  Hamp 
ton  was  by  them,  cool  and  composed  as  ever ;  on  the 
left  were  some  companies  which  had  hastened  from 
below — and  in  the  centre  was  Jackson,  a  stonewall 
backed  by  a  steel  hedge  of  bayonets. 

Hitherto,  the  writer  of  this  page  has  stated  facts,  in 
regard  to  which  there  is  no  controversy.  They  are  not 
only  history,  but  accepted  history.  What  followed  the 
arrival  of  Johnston  and  Beauregard  is  reported  di 
versely.  The  latter  officer  reports  that  Jackson  charged 
twice,  being  driven  in  the  first  charge,  from  the  hill. 
Johnston,  Hampton,  Pendleton,  and  Jackson  himself, 
state  that  he  charged  but  once,  and  was  never  driven 
from  the  hill.  We  follow  Johnston,  Hampton,  Pendle- 
*on,  and  Jackson. 

This  latter  won  on  this  occasion  his  soubriquet  of 
"Stonewall" — he  also  won  the  enthusiastic  admiration 
of  his  men.  Wounded  in  the  hand,  he  wrapped  it  in  a 
handkerchief,  and  forgot  it.  Surrounded  by  hurry  and 
excitement,  he  remained  as  cool  as  ice. 

"  General ! "  exclaimed  an  officer5  "  I  tMnk  the  day 
is  going  against  us ! " 

Jackson  looked  sidewise  at  the  speaker.  Then,  in 
his  curt  voice,  he  replied : 

"  If  you  think  so,  sir,  you  had  better  say  nothing 
about  it." 

Biding  slowly  up  and  down,  he  waited — uncon 
•ciouB  wholly,  it  seemed,  of  the  terrible  fire  amid 
which  he  moved.  He  had  ordered  his  four  regiment* 


MANAMAS.  II 

to  remain  lying  down,  in  line  of  battle,  behind  th« 
guns,  until  the  enemy  arrived  within  tbout  seventy- 
five  yards  of  them,  when  they  were  to  rise,  and 
u  charge  with  the  bayonet." 

Soon  the  moment  came.  The  Federal  foices  had 
swept  on,  gained  the  plateau  of  the  Henry  House,  and 
now  their  rear  was  seen  to  close  up;  their  masece 
were  rapidly  formed  for  the  charge.  The  great 
swarm  seemed  to  concentrate ;  the  blue  lines  pre 
sented  a  front,  broad,  deep,  and  terrible,  with  its  brist 
ling  bayonets ;  then,  all  at  once,  with  redoubled  thun 
ders  of  musketry  and  cannon,  they  were  hurled  against 
the  thin  Confederate  front. 

The  assault  was  met  with  the  bayonet.  Rising  sud 
denly  from  the  pines,  the  Virginians,  under  Jackson, 
fired  a  volley,  and  rushed  up  the  slope.  With  shouts, 
cheers,  mad  yells,  the  blue  and  gray  lines  clashed, 
fighting  desperately  for  the  possession  of  the  plateau. 

In  ten  minutes  the  Southerners  had  swept  the  Fed 
eral  forces  back,  and  gained  it.  Then  the  question 
was  —  could  they  hold  it  ?  —  and  one  of  the  bloodiest 
conflicts,  of  a  war  aa  bloody  as  any  in  history,  took 
place  on  the  slope  of  that  hill. 

Jackson  did  not  flinch.  It  was  a  veritable  stone 
wall  which  he  presented  to  his  foes,  but  a  wall  that 
•till  advanced,  step  by  step,  as  inexorable  as  destiny. 

On  bis  right  and  left  some  of  the  bravest  gentlemen 
of  the  South  were  fighting>  falling,  and  dying.  One 
— a  boy,  and  a  private — exclaimed,  as  they  carried 
him  expiring  from  the  field: 

"They've  done  for  me  now,  but  my  father's  then 


88  MAJfAJSSAA 

yet! —  our  army's  there  yetl — and  liberty**  there 
yet!" 

Hampton,  charging  with  his  legion,  near  the  Henry 
House,  was  shot,  and  fell. 

Bee  fell,  struck  down  at  the  head  of  his  troops 
grasping  the  sword  which  South  Carolina  had  pro 
sented  to  him. 

Bartow,  who  had  said,  "I  shall  go  into  that  fight 
with  a  determination  never  to  leave  the  field  alive,  but 
in  victory,"  was  shot  through  the  heart  while  leading 
ihe  Seventh  Georgia,  and  died  exclaiming: 

"  They've  killed  me,  but  never  give  up  the  field ! " 

But,  in  spite  of  the  fall  of  their  leaders,  the  troope 
pressed  on.  Jackson  had  rooted  himself  firmly  in  the 
joil  of  the  plateau,  and  now,  as  the  right  and  left 
wings  closed  up,  and  preserved  his  flanks  from  dan 
ger,  he  made  his  great  advance.  In  the  midst  of  the 
hurricane,  which  had  now  reached  its  wildest  inten 
sity,  he  dressed  his  line,  placed  himself  in  front,  and 
fell,  like  a  thunderbolt,  upon  the  Federal  centre. 

An  instant  decided  all.  The  centre  was  pierced ; 
the  two  wings  of  the  United  States  army  separated ; 
and  as  Jackson's  brigade,  supported,  shoulder  to  shoul 
der,  by  the  South  Carolinians  of  Hampton,  the  North 
Carolimaus  of  Fisher,  the  Georgians,  Alabamians, 
Mississippi  ans,  and  other  troops,  rolled  foward,  like  a 
wave  of  iron,  and  pressed  the  Federal  right,  centre, 
and  left,  the  troops  of  General  McDowell  were  thrown 
into  disorder ;  then  they  gave  way ;  then  they  broke ; 
then  were  seen  flying,  with  the  shouting  Confederates 
pure  uing  them. 

The  Federal  commander  formed  a  new  line  of  bat- 


HANAS8AS.  99 

tie,  in  the  shape  of  a  crescent,  extending  along  ih« 
ridge  in  rear  of  the  Old  Stone  House;  but  his  men 
had  lost  heart. 

Just  ac  another  advance  had  begun  the  brave  Gen. 
Kirby  Smith  arrived  with  seventeen  hundred  fresh 
troops — these  wers  t^j-own  into  action  —fell  on  the 
enemy's  right — and  the  long,  hard  conflict  soon  termi 
nated. 

The  Federal  army,  which  had  advanced  that  morn 
ing  in  all  the  pride,  pomp,  and  circumstance  of  glori 
ous  war,  was  no  longer  anything  but  a  mass  of  fugi 
tives;  and,  sitting  his  horse  upon  the  battle-field, 
General  Stonewall  Jackson  said: 

"  Give  me  ten  thousand  men,  and  I  will  be  in  Wash 
ington  to-night ! " 

Such  was  Manassas  —  the  first  great  fight  of  the 
civil  war.  I  have  endeavored  to  describe  the  struggle 
with  the  fairness  of  truth  itself,  not  with  rancour  or 
bitterness.  Alas !  grief  supplants  hatred  when  I  think 
of  that  battle ;  for  the  night  of  the  action  fell  dark  as 
a  funeral  pall  upon  the  corpses  of  more  than  one 
friend  whom  I  dearly  loved,  and  still  mourn. 

I  have  described  the  battle-  I  would  not  like  to 
undertake  a  description  of  the  retreat  —  of  that  tragic 
spectacle  of  human  beings  mastered  by  a  frightful 
panic — of  masses  torn  by  shot  and  bursting  shell  — of 
men  rolling,  crushed  beneath  the  wheels  of  their  own 
artillery --of  ethers  throwing  away  guns,  knapsacks, 
oil  i.oths,  sworda,  hats,  coats,  every  object  which  wa« 
calculated  to  impede  their  flight  to  the  sheltering  rvaa 
parts  of  Washington. 


44  XANAJ38A& 

Let  others  elaborate  that  sombre  and  terrible  pie- 
hire ;  the  present  writer  declines  the  lugubrious  task. 

It  is  enough  to  say  here  that,  on  the  evening  of  the 
21st  of  July,  1861,  the  "Grand  Army"  of  the  UniteJ 
States  was  in  hopeless  rout.  Its  pride  was  all  broken  ; 
its  flowers  had  disappeared  before  the  sythe  of  death ; 
it  was  as  the  unripe  fruit  which  fades  before  the  sum 
mer. 

We  shall  meet  hereafter  with  battles  as  desperate, 
and  more  bloody,  but  with  none  which  possess  the 
dramatic  interest  of  this  one. 

It  was  the  death-wrestle  of  two  great  races,  and  one 
fell,  it  seemed,  never  to  rise  again.  But  that  hope 
was  vain.  The  fallen  grew  stronger — the  conquerer 
weaker. 

At  Gettysburg,  in  July,  1863,  the  mighty  gladiators 
seemed  of  nearly  equal  strength. 

At  Petersburg,  in  the  spring  of  1865,  the  world  saw 
that  the  victor  at  Manassas,  Fredericksburg,  Cold  Har 
bor,  Chancelloreville,  was  tottering,  feeble,  faint. 

It  was  not  until  the  9th  of  April,  at  Appomattox 
Court  House,  that  the  explanation  of  this  phenomenon 
was  given. 

The  Southern  army  was  net  conquered;  it  was 
starving  to  death. 


1L 

POST   RKFU1IL13. 

THERE  was  in  Virginia  in  1862  an  old  officer  of  the 
French  army  who  had  followed  Napoleon  through 
out  his  greatest  campaigns,  and  was  a  very  enthu 
siastic  admirer  of  the  Emperor.  When  the  intelli 
gence  of  Jackson's  victory  at  Port  Republic  came, 
CoL exclaimed: 

"He  is  the  greatest  of  all  soldiers  I  There  never 
was  a  greater  campaign  than  the  campaign  of  the 
Valley.  I  will  not  say  that  Jackson  imitated  Napoleon, 
but,  if  he  had  lived  before  the  Emperor,  I  would 
aay  that  Napoleon  imitated  Jackson  1 " 

The  object  of  this  paper  is  to  describe  the  action, 
the  intelligence  of  which  aroused  the  military  entliu 
aiasm  of  the  old  French  officer. 

To  perform  this  task  conscientiously  and  accu 
rately,  it  is  necessary  to  begin  at  the  beginning.  Tha 
ma'ahes  of  Jackson  were  even  more  remarkable 
than  his  battles  —  the  huge  strides  of  the  Colossus 
more  interesting  even  than  the  blows  which  he  dealt. 
Re  urined  to  conquer  an  enemy  rather  by  sweat  than 
bloc**  —  and  Port  Republic  was  only  the  last  scene  of 
the  last  act  in  a  drama  which  was  from  the  first  scene 
movement,  movement,  movement! 


16  POST  REPUBLIC. 

In  March  of  this  year,  1862,  Jackson  was  at  Winches 
ter  with  four  thousand  men,  with  orders  to  hold  the 
Valley. 

One  morning  the  enemy  advanced  upon  him  with 
about  forty  thousand  men — that  is,  ten  to  one;  and, 
when  his  friends  said,  sadly,  "Good-bye,  General," 
he  did  not  take  the  hands  held  out,  and  replied : 

"No!  I  will  never  leave  Winchester  without  a  fighl 
-never I  never  1" 

Four  hours  afterwards  he  was  retreating,  but  only  in 
jbedience  to  a  peremptory  order  from  IMchmond. 

"  Is  everything  removed,  Major  ? "  he  said  to  hi* 
chief  quartermaster. 

"  Nearly  everything,  General." 

"  Take  your  time,  Major ;  I  am  in  no  hurrry  to  leave 
Winchester." 

Retreating  slowly  up  the  Valley,  he  had  reached 
Mount  Jackson,  when  Ashby  sent  him  word  that  the 
enemy  were  moving  their  forces  from  Winchester 
toward  Fredricksburg  to  reinforce  McClellan  on  the 
Chickahominy.  At  the  intelligence  Jackson  put  his 
column  in  motion,  and  hastened  with  his  "  foot  caval 
ry "  toward  the  Potomac.  Fifty  miles  were  passed 
over  with  the  speed  of  horse.  The  enemy,  eleven 
thousand  in  number,  were  found  at  Kernstown ;  and, 
although  the  three  thousand  men  of  Jackson  were  so 
much  exhausted  that  they  staggered  when  their  feet 
were  placed  upon  the  rolling  stones  of  the  turnpike, 
their  commander  gave  the  order  to  attack. 

The  battle  of  Kernfitown  followed — the  struggle  of 
two  thousand  seven  hundred  and  forty-two  men  to 
drive  about  eight  thousand  from  the  field.  That  fight 


PORT  REPUBLIC.  JT 

wt#  one  of  the  hardest  of  the  war.  Jackson  saiJ  that 
the  tiring  was  more  rapid  and  continuous  than  during 
any  portion  of  the  battle  of  Manassas. 

The  action  commenced  at  four  o'clock  on  a  bleak 
March  evening,  with  the  wind  sobbing  over  the  great 
delds  of  br<x>m-straw,  soon  to  be  dabbled  in  blood. 
Until  nightfall  it  raged  with  enormous  bitterness. 
Time  after  time  the  Federal  flag  went  down,  and  a 
Northern  officer  afterwards  declared  that  the  obstinate 
stand  made  by  a  single  Federal  regiment  "alone  saved 


But  at  dark  Jackson  was  beaten.  The  enemy  were 
enveloping  both  his  flanks,  and  driving  his  centre. 
Ashby  at  that  moment  sent  him  word  that  if  he  could 
only  hold  his  ground  ten  minutes  longer,  the  Federal 
forces  would  retire.  "  I  know  this  to  be  so,"  said 
Ashby  ;  he  had  captured,  it  is  said,  a  courier  of  Gen. 
Shields',  bearing  the  order.  But  it  was  too  late  The 
battle  w^s  lost.  Jackson's  men  were  retreating  —  sul 
lenly,  doggedly,  "without  panic,"  as  even  the  Federa' 
commander  said  in  his  report  —  but  they  were  retreat 
ing. 

Having  moved  back  tliree  or  four  miles,  Jackson  la) 
lown  in  a  fence  corner,  slept  for  an  hour  or  more,  and 
at  daylight  commenced  his  retreat  —  unpursued,  almost. 
The  enemy  followed  him  no  further  than  Strasburg. 
from  which  jOir*  they  fell  back  to  Winchester,  barri 
cading  the  road  in  their  rear. 

About  the  middle  of  April  Jackson  was  in  camp, 

near  Mount  Jackson,  when    he  received    intelligence 

that  the  enemy  were  advancing,  in  heavy  force.     Soon 

%eir  advance  guard   struck   his  front,  nrder  Ashby 

4 


3*  four 


The  Confederate  commander  was  too  weak  to  fight  th* 
heavy  force  under  Banks,  and  slowly  moved  across  the 
Shenandoah  toward  Swift  Run  Gap,  through  wliich 
ran  the  road  to  Richmond.  Ashby  had  remained  be 
hind,  and  it  was  in  endeavoring  to  destroy  the  bridga 
over  the  Shenandoah  on  this  occasion,  that  his  hi 
toric  white  horse  received  the  historic  death-  wound. 

Meanwhile,  Jackson  had  reached  his  fastness  in  til 
Blue  Ridge,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  had  net  th 
least  intention  of  retreating  further.    Like  the  Scottish 
chieftain,  his  back  was  against  the  rock;  and  he  did  not 
mean  to  fly. 

Gen.  Banks  advanced  no  further  than  Harrison. 
burg.  From  that  place  he  sent,  on  the  24th  of  April, 
a  dispatch  to  Washington,  announcing  that  "  the  rebel 
Jackson"  had  abandoned  the  Valley,  and  was  then  ID 
full  retreat  upon  Richmond. 

The  commentary  upon  this  statement  was  amusing. 
Jackson  moved  rapidly  to  Staunton,  advanced  thence 
to  the  western  mountains,  struck  and  defeated  Milroy, 
who  was  coming  to  join  Banks,  drove  him  froir 
McDowell  to  Franklin,  and  then,  having  drawn  up  hia 
army,  and  returned  thanks  to  God  for  the  victory, 
while  the  enemy  were  still  firing,  returned  by  rapid 
marches  to  the  Valley.  Gen.  Banks  had  fallen  back  to 
Strasburg,  where  he  was  fortifying.  Such  had  been 
the  result  of  Jackson's  "  retreat  upon  Richmond." 

No  time  was  lost  by  the  Virginian.  He  summoned 
Ewell  I  meet  Him  at  Newmarket;  from  that  point 
crossed  the  Shenandoah  and  the  Massinutton,  ad-vancod 
down  the  Luray  Valley,  and,  before  the  enemy  were 
aware  of  his  presence,  made  a  furious  assault  upon 


PORT  REPUBLIC.  99 

their  ontpost,  at  Front  Royal  —  that  is  to  an  y,  preueely 
on  the  flank  of  General  Banks  at  Stra&burg. 

The  Federal  force  at  Front  Royal  disappeared,  as 
though  swept  away  by  the  wind,  and  Jackson  pushed 
on  rapidly  to  strike  the  Valley  turnpike,  between 
Strasburg  and  Winchester,  full  in  the  enemy's  rear 
He  struck  their  column  moving  back  in  haste  upon 
Winchester.  At  the  sudden  thunder  of  his  artillery, 
the  long  columns  of  cavalry  broke  and  vanished  like 
phantoms  in  the  woods ;  the  trains  and  artillery  ran  ofl 
at  a  gallop,  and  the  tail  of  the  long  snake,  cut  off  from 
the  rest,  retreated  rapid ly  upon  Strasburg,  whence  it 
escaped  to  the  mountains. 

Jackson  now  hastened  on,  without  pausing  for  a 
moment,  toward  Winchester.  Moving  steadily  all 
night,  and  driving  before  him  every  Federal  force 
wliich  barred  the  way,  he  came  within  sight  of  Win 
chester  at  dawn,  and,  an  hour  afterwards,  made  a  reso 
lute  attack.  General  Banks  had  assembled  all  his 
available  forces  there,  and  occupied  the  high  hill  to  the 
west  of  the  town ;  but  Jackson  knew  that  no  real  resist 
ance  would  await  him  from  troops  thus  demoralized, 
lie  formed  his  line  of  battle,  sent  word  to  Ewell,  on 
the  Front  Iloyal  road,  to  close  in,  and  the  two  columns 
rushed,  right  and  left,  upon  the  town,  meeting,  and 
driving  everything  before  them. 

The  blue  lines  were  utterly  broken,  in  full  retreat, 
and  were  hastening  out  at  the  northern  end  of  the 
town  while  Jackson's  men  were  entering  the  southern 
suburbs. 

The  scene  which  followed  wil  I  long  be  remembered 
by  those  who  witnessed  it.  Men,  women,  and  children 


40  PORT  REPUBLIC. 

flocked  into  the  streets,  shouting,  laughing,  ai  id  waving 
their  handkerchiefs ;  and  such  was  the  enthusiasm  of 
the  young  girls  to  welcome  their  gray  defenders,  that 
men  had  to  be  sent  forward  to  motion  them  out  of  the 
way,  in  order  that  the  platoons  mi^ht  deliver  their  fire. 

"  Thank  God,  we  are  free !  Thank  God,  we  are  free 
once  more  1 "  resounded  upon  every  side,  and  J  ackson 
exhibited  an  emotion  which  he  had  never  been  known 
to  display  before.  He  caught  his  cap  from  his  head, 
waved  it  in  the  air,  and  he,  the  sedate,  serious  Stone 
wall  Jackson  —  cheered!  But  the  ovation  did  not 
divert  him  from  his  work.  He  rode  on  rapidly  through 
the  town,  and  followed  so  closely,  ahead  of  his  own 
column,  the  footsteps  of  the  enemy,  that  a  staff  officer 
«aid: 

''  Don't  you  think  you  are  exposing  yourself  to  dan 
ger,  General  ? " 

To  this  caution  he  paid  not  the  least  attention.  Hit 
orief  reply  was : 

"  Tell  the  troops  to  press  right  on  to  the  Potomac ! " 

But  the  infantry  was  broken  down,  and  the  cavalry 
was  not  in  place.  This  fact  ale  ne  saved  the  Federal 
forces  from  capture.  They  reached  Martinsburg,  rap 
idly  passed  the  Potomac,  and  General  Banks  said,  in 
his  report  of  these  events,  "  It  is  seldom  that  a  river 
crossing  of  such  magnitude  is  achieved  with  greater 
success,  and  there  were  never  more  grateful  hearts,  in 
the  same  number  of  men,  than  when,  at  mid-day  on  the 
S6th,  we  stood  on  the  opposite  shore." 

At  Winchester,  Jackson  captured  great  quantities  of 
stores ;  but  the  work  was  not  done,  and  the  time  for 
rest  was  still  far  distant.  The  enemy  retained  posses*- 


POST  REPUBLIC.  41 

ioD  of  Harper's  Ferry,  and  toward  that  joint  the  old 
Stonewall  Brigade,  under  that  brave  spirit,  Winder, 
was  promptly  sent. 

Winder  advanced  to  Charlestown,  and,  at  the  first 
roar  of  Lis  guns,  the  enemy  there  retreated,  pursued  by 
the  Southerners  to  Halltown.  Jackson  arrived  on  the 
following  morning  with  his  main  body,  advanced 
straight  upon  Harper's  Ferry,  and  was  about  to  attack, 
when  intelligence  reached  him  which  communicated  a 
very  unexpected  and  most  disagreeable  aspect  to  affairs. 

A  few  words  will  explain.  The  advance  of  the  for 
midable  athlete  toward  the  Potomac  had  excited  the 
utmost  consternation  in  Washington.  The  daring  of 
the  man  was  so  well  known  that  the  Federal  au.lhori- 
ties  trembled  for  the  fate  of  their  capital.  The  wildest 
rumors  were  everywhere  prevalent.  "  Where  is  Jack 
son?"  "Has  he  taken  Washington?"  These  and  a 
hundred  similar  questions  were  asked;  at  least,  the 
northern  journals  said  so.  The  government  certainly 
shared  this  anxiety.  President  Lincoln  had  already 
writeen  a  hurried  dispatch  to  General  McDowell,  at 
Fredericksburg,  in  which  he  said:  "You  are  in 
structed,  laying  aside  for  the  present  the  movement  on 
Richmond,  to  put  twenty  thousand  men  in  motion  at 
once  for  the  Shenandoah,  to  capture  the  forces  of  Jack 
son  and  Ewell."  The  Federal  Secretary  of  War  now 
telegraphed  to  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts :  "  Send 
all  the  troops  forward  that  you  can,  immediately. 
Banks  completely  routed.  Intelligence  from  various 
quarters  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  enemy  in  great  force 
are  advancing  on  Washington.  You  will  please  organ 
ize  and  forward  immediately  all  the  volunteer  and 


42  POST  JUSPUBLia 

militia  force  in  your  State."  Similar  dispatches  ai« 
said  to  have  been  sent  to  the  other  States — ex  vow 
disce  omnes. 

The  "great  force"  at  Jackson's  command  was  Rf 
this  time  about  fifteen  thousand  men.  This  he  stated 
to  Col.  Boteler  of  his  staff. 

"What  will  you  do  if  the  enemy  cut  you  off,  Gen 
eral?"  asked  the  Colonel. 

"I  will  fall  back  upon  Maryland  for  reinforce 
ments,"  was  the  cool  response. 

Credo  quia  absurdum  est.  Jackson  believed  in  many 
things  which  other  Generals  thought  absurd  until  he 
accomplished  them. 

The  intelligence  which  came  to  Jackson,  now  at 
Harper's  Ferry,  was  enough  to  try  his  nerves.  The 
heavy  column  sent  up  by  General  McDowell  from 
Fredericksburg  was  at  Front  Royal,  and  had  captured 
the  Confederate  force  there.  The  advance  was  hasten 
ing  toward  Strasburg ;  and,  as  if  this  were  not  enough, 
Gen.  Fremont,  with  an  army  estimated  at  twenty  thou 
sand  men,  was  hurrying  to  the  same  point,  Strasburg, 
from  the  West — had  reached  the  town  of  "Wardens 
ville  across  the  mountain. 

Thus  a  force  of  about  forty  thousand  or  fifty  thou 
sand  men  was  closing  in  rapidly  upon  Jackson's  rear 
at  Strasburg.  If  the  columns  under  Shields  and 
Fremont  made  a  junction  there  before  his  arrival  — 
"  good-night  to  Marniion ! "  Fifteen  thousand  resolute 
men  could  accomplish  much,  but  they  could  scarcely 
cut  their  w*y  through  fifty  thousand.  The  great  point, 
therefore,  was  to  reach  the  village  of  Strasburg  liefore 
the  enemy  Then  the  little  army  woul  1  be  safe. 


POST  REPUBLIC.  4& 

Jackson  began  to  move  without  delay. 

"I  will  return  again  shortly,  and  as  certainly  as 
now,*  he  said,  in  his  brief,  calm  voice,  to  the  wcmen 
and  children  of  Winchester,  when  he  left  them.  Then 
he  rode  on,  and  rejoined  his  column.  The  captured 
Btorc^,  and  the  prisoners,  some  three  thousand  in  num 
ber,  were  rapidly  sent  forward ;  the  army  followed ; 
it  was  a  race  between  the  Confederate  commander 
and  his  adversaries  which  would  arrive  first.  The 
stake  was  not  an  unimportant  one — it  was  nothing 
less  than  Jackson's  army. 

Hastening  forward,  Jackson  reached  Strasburg  just 
as  Fremont's  advance  force  came  in  sight ;  the  column 
under  Shields  was  yet  some  miles  distant.  Unfortu 
nately,  the  old  Stonewall  Brigade  had  been  left  behind 
at  Harper's  Ferry ;  until  it  arrived,  no  one  who  knew 
the  character  of  Jackson  for  a  moment  believed  that 
he  would  continue  his  march. 

He  halted,  and  waited.  Fremont  pressed  on,  intent 
upon  his  prey ;  soon  his  advance  force  was  in  sight  of 
Strasburg,  and  came  on  rapidly  in  line  of  battle. 

"  Ewell,  attack  I "  was  Jackson's  order,  as  at  the 
second  Manassass  his  brief  words  were,  "  Ewell,  ad 
vance  ! " 

Ewell  attacked,  as  that  hardy  soldier  always  did, 
sith  vigor.  The  head  of  Fremont's  column  was  driven 
back  upon  the  main  body.  Ewell  p  ressed  forward ;  the 
long  rattle  of  his  musketry  echoed  frcm  the  mountain 
ride,  and  that  echo  reached  the  ears  and  stirred  the 
pnkc-ri  of  a  little  column  of  foot-sore  and  weary  men, 
who  were  hastening  on  to  join  their  commander. 

It  ww  the  Stonewall  Brigade,  now  onlj  an  hour  or 


44  POST   REPUBLIC. 

two's  march  away.  At  the  sound  of  E  v<  ll's  guns  the 
worn-out  men  pressed  on  more  rapidly.  All  knew 
that  their  fate  depended  upon  the  speed  of  that  march 
An  hour  gained  meant  safety — an  hour  lost  meam 
rapture  and  destruction. 

At  Middletown,  Winder,  then  commanding  the 
Brigade,  saw  motionless  on  the  turnpike  the  long  lines 
of  Ashby's  cavalry.  That  stout  cavalier  never  yet 
deserted  comrade ;  at  the  sight  of  Winder  the  brown 
eyes  flashed. 

"  I  never  felt  so  much  relieved  in  my  life ! "  ex 
claimed  Ashby,  grasping  is  friend's  hand.  "  I  was 
certain  you  would  be  cut  off,  and  had  made  up  my 
mind  to  join  you,  and  advise  you  to  force  your  way 
through  Ashby's  Gap  at  Gordonsville  ! "  * 

Ewell  was  still  fighting  obstinately  when  bayonets 
were  seen  to  glitter  in  the  direction  of  Winchester ;  a 
red  flag  flashed  in  the  sunshine ;  steadily  the  weary 
column  came — the  old  Brigade  was  safe  "at  home" 
with  its  commander. 

As  it  entered  the  town,  Jackson  ordered  Ewell  to 
fall  back.  Then  the  army  moved ;  Ashby's  cavalry 
retired,  the  last,  from  Strasburg ;  as  they  disappeared, 
the  enemy  rushed  in  to  beize  their  prey. 

That  prey  had  escaped.  The  lion  was  out  of  the 
meshes. 

The  army  moved  on  steadily,  Ashby  holding  the 
rear,  and  drawing  blood  with  his  teeth  when  they 
pressed  him  too  closely.  Thus  pushing  before  it  the 
long  train  cf  captured  stores,  and  the  blue  line  of 

*  I  have  ibis  incident  from  my  friend,  Captain  M "Henry  Howard, 
formerly  of  Winder's  staff. 


POST  RXPJBHO,  41 


prisoners,  the  column  ascended  the  Valley; 
ket  was  reached  and  passed  ;  the  ShenandoaL  crossed  ; 
Elarrisonburg  attained.  If  Jackson  could  DOW  strike 
across  to  Port  Republic  —  a  little  village  in  the  forks 
of  the  Shenandoah  —  he  could  send  off  his  captures 
through  Brown's  Gap  to  Richmond,  place  his  baci 
against  the  mountain,  and  strike  a  mortal  blow  either 
at  Fremont  in  his  front,  or  at  Shields,  advancing  up 
the  Luray  Valley,  on  his  flank. 

Without  delay,  the  formidable  "  game  "  continued 
to  press  forward  to  the  harbor  of  refuge. 

On  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  June.  Jackson's 
column  Tvas  moving  steadily  across  to  Port  Republic 
—  Fremont  pressing  closely  on  the  rear,  and  Shields, 
as  the  signal-flags  on  the  mountain  announced,  hasten 
ing  up  t«  cut  off  the  army  at  Brown's  Gap. 

Jackgwa  did  not  hurry.  Those  who  saw  him  will 
testify  teat  he  never  was  more  calm. 

Ashb^  brought  up  the  rear,  fighting  over  every  foot 
of  the  ground,  with  splendid  gallantry. 

On  this  day  he  ambushed  and  captured  CoL  Percy 
Wyndhnaa  ;  three  hours  afterwards  the  chevalier, 
"  withoufc  reproach  of  fear,"  was  dead. 

Just  at  BUD  set,  as  the  woodlands  slept  in  the  dreamy 
light  of  one  of  the  most  beautiful  afternoons  of  June, 
he  had  rushed  forward  at  the  head  of  a  small  force 
to  assail  the  Pennsylvania  "  Bucktails,"  under  CoL 
Kaue  ;  the  ranks  had  closed  in,  in  a  bitter  struggle  ; 
Ashby's  horse  was  shot  ;  he  sprung  to  his  feet  ;  but  aa 
he  was  waving  his  sword  —  as  "  Virginians,  charge!" 
came  ftom  his  lips  —  a  bullet  pierced  his  breast.  He 
expired  almost  immediately,  but  not  before  the  enemy 


4€  PORT  3OPUBL1O. 

was  driven, — and  his  body  was  brought  out  befo.«  a 
cavalryman. 

The  brave  CoL  Kane,  who  had  been  captured,  was 
told  of  it. 

"  I  am  sorry,"  he  said ;  "  he  was  a  noble  fellow ! " 

It  was  an  enemy  who  said  that ;  but  Ashby  did  not 
deed  the  praise  of  friend  or  foe.  His  brief  career  was 
like  a  dream  of  chivalry ;  but  to-day  his  name  and 
fame  are  cut  upon  a  tablet  warmer  and  more  durable 
than  "  monumental  alabaster." 

That  tablet,  is  the  great  heart  of  Virginia. 

From  thi&  moment  commenced  that  series  of  superb 
manoeuvres,  which  culminated  in  the  excellently  fought 
battle  of  Port  Republic. 

To  understand  the  "  situation,"  it  is  absolutely  nec 
essary  to  look  at  the  map.  Fremont  was  at  Harrison 
burg ;  Shields  at  Conrad's  Store,  in  the  Luray  Valley ; 
Jackson  at  Port  Republic.  These  three  points  are 
nearly  the  angles  of  an  equilateral  triangle, — the  sides 
ten  or  fifteen  miles  in  length. 

Jackson  had  twelve  thousand  men ;  Shields  about 
the  same ;  Fremont  about  twenty  thousand,  according 
to  the  records  captured  by  Gen.  Ewell.  It  must  have 
been  near  that. 

If  Fremont  joined  Shields,  or  Shields  joined  Fre 
mont,  a  column  of  about  thirty-two  thousand  troops 
would  thus  be  opposed  to  twelve  thousand.  If  he 
joined  him — but  that  had  been  provided  against. 
Jackson  had  destroyed  the  bridge  at  Conrad's  Store, 
as  he  had  destroyed  that  near  Newmarket.  Trying  a 
second  time  to  cross,  Shields  found  the  swollen  cur- 
ppnt  directly  in  his  path.  N>  junction  was  |>o68ible 


POST  &KPUBLIO.  47 

— Jackson,  crouching  like  a  tiger  at  Port  Republic 
could  spring  either  on  Fremont  or  Shields,  according 
to  his  fancy. 

It  will  soon  be  seen  that  he  intended  to  crush  them 
before  they  could  unite — to  tear  to  pieces  Shields,  and 
then  attack  and  destroy  Fremont,  or  be  destroyed  by 
him.  It  might  have  been  thought  that  the  great  glad 
iator  was  tired  of  retreating — that  the  spirit  of  "fight'1 
flushed  his  pulses.  Those  near  him  at  that  moment 
saw  an  expression  upon  his  face,  which  is  best  described 
by  the  word  "  dangerous." 

A  moment  of  great  personal  peril  to  the  commander 
was  to  precede  the  hour  of  danger  for  his  command. 
The  incident  about  to  be  related  is  curious. 

Jackson's  main  body  reached  the  Shenandoah,  oppo 
site  Port  Republic,  on  the  night  of  June  7th.  The 
General  sent  some  cavalry  in  the  direction  of  Shields, 
and  then  established  his  head-quarters  in  the  town. 

On  the  next  morning  he  had  just  mounted  liis  horse, 
when  the  cavalry  came  back  panic-stricken,  pursued 
by  Federal  horse  and  artillery,  one  piece  of  which  gal 
loped  up,  and  unlimbered  at  the  bridge. 

Jackson  was  cut  off  from  his  army.  That  bridge 
was  his  only  means  of  return  to  his  forces,  and  it  was 
commanded  by  the  muzzle  of  a  piece  of  artillery, 
loaded  and  ready.  The  General  acted  with  rapidity. 
Hiding  straight  toward  the  gun  he  called  oat, 

"  Who  ordered  you  to  post  that  gun  there  ?  J*ring 
it  here ! " 

Who  coild  give  such  an  order  but  a  Federal  ofiicei 
of  rank?  The  gun  was  quickly  limbered  up  —  begai 


48  PORT  REPUBLIC, 

to  move  to  the  place  directed — and  Jackacn  *rith  hli 
staff  spurred  rapidly  across  the  bridge. 

The  ruse  was  discovered  too  late  by  the  artillery 
officer — Captain  Robinson,  of  Portsmouth,  Ohio.  He 
fired  three  shots  at  the  fugitives,  but  they  screamed 
above  them.  Jackson  continued  his  way,  and,  passing 
rapidly  through  the  camps,  with  his  cap  in  his  hand, 
exclaimed : 

"Beat  thb  long  roll  1" 

It  was  beaten  ;  the  troops  sprung  to  arms ;  Taliaf  er- 
ros'  brigade  rushed  straight  to  the  bridge,  and  in  fif 
teen  minutes  the  Federal  artillery  was  captured,  their 
cavalry  in  full  flight. 

The  Confederates  were  still  pursuing  them,  when  a 
low,  continuous  thunder  —  sullen  and  ominous — was 
heard  in  the  direction  of  Ilarrisburg.  Ewell  was  fight 
ing  Fremont  at  Cross  Keys.  The  hardy  Virginian,  at 
the  head  of  his  five  thousand  bayonets,  had  thrown 
himself  impetuously  against  the  twenty  thousand  of 
the  enemy,  at  the  spot  where  the  "  Crocs  Keys  Tavern" 
used  to  stand,  about  midway  between  Port  Republic 
and  Ilarrisonburg. 

Cross  Keys  was  one  of  the  "  neatest "  fights  of  the 
war.     It  may  be  said  of  the  soldier  who  commanded 
the  Southerners  there,  that  he  thought  that  "war 
meant  fight,  and  that  fight  meant  kill"    lie  threw  foi 
ward    his   right  —  drove  the  enemy  half  a  mile--- 
brought  up  his  left — was  about  to  push  forward,  when, 
just  at  nightfall,  Jackson  sent  him  an  order  to  with 
draw  with  the  main  body  of  his  command  to  P^ii 
Republic. 

Ewell  obeyed,  and  pnt  his  column  in  motion,  leav« 


POST  REPUBLIC.  4t 

ing  only  a  small  force  to  observe  the  enen.  J.  He  wai 
the  last  to  leave  the  field,  and  was  seen  he"  ping  the 
wounded  to  mount  upon  horseback.  To  those  too 
badly  Lurt  to  be  moved  from  the  ground,  he  gavs 
money  for  their  necessities  out  of  his  own  pocket. 

Health  to  you,  General !  wherever  you  may  be.  A 
teart  of  steel  beat  in  your  breast  in  old  days ;  but  at 
Cross  Keys  the  groans  of  the  wounded  melted  it. 

What  Jackson  intended  on  this  night  of  June  8th,  IB 
kuewn  from  the  memoir  of  an  officer.  Col.  Patten, 
left  to  command  the  small  force  in  Fremont's  front, 
went  at  midnight  to  ascertain  Jackson's  exact  in- 
Btruc^ions. 

"Hold  your  position  as  well  as  you  can,"  was  his 
order ;  "  then  fall  back  when  obliged ;  take  a  new  posi 
tion,  and  hold  it  in  the  same  way,  and  I'll  be  back  to 
join  you  in  the  morning.  By  the  blessing  of  Provi 
dence,  I  hope  to  be  back  by  ten  o'clock." 

That  is  to  say,  before  ten  o'clock  Shields  would  be 
crushed,  and  Jackson  designed  returning  to  assail 
Fremont. 

That  enormous  will  had  determined  upon  everything 
—the  mathematical  brain  had  mapped  out,  in  advance, 
thfl  whole  series  of  manoeuvres.  I  have  said  above 
that  at  this  time  Jackson  was  perfectly  calm  and  com 
posed.  A  singular  proof  of  that  statement  will  now 
be  given,  and,  perhaps,  some  readers  may  find  it  sup 
ports  the  strange  theory,  held  by  not  a  few  <£  his  men, 
that  Jackson  was  mentally  "  inspired."  * 

*  This  incident  is  given  upon  the  authority  of  Captain  How**d 
»'  Baltimore.  It  ha*  never  before  been  published. 

ft 


50  POST  REPUBLIC. 

At  one  o'clock  in  the  day,  duri  g  the  figl  t  at  Crosi 
Keys,  he  rode  up  and  dismounted  from  his  hrrse  n^ar 
the  bridge  at  Port  Republic,  "  unusually  absorbed,  but 
perfectly  tranquil." 

"  Major,"  he  said,  turning  with  the  sweet  smile  of  a 
child  to  an  officer  near,  "  would  it  not  be  a  gloi  ions 
thing  if  God  would  give  us  a  great  victor}'  to-day's" 

Two  hours  passed  alowly ;  the  cannonade  from  Cross 
Keys  became,  if  anything,  more  violent.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  scene  shall  be  described  in  the  words 
of  the  brave  officer  who  furnishes  the  memoir : 

"  Great  was  my  astonishment,"  says  Captain  How 
ard's  MS.,  "when,  after  a  long  silence,  the  General 
called  abruptly,  *  Pendleton !  write  a  note  to  General 
Ewell — say  the  enemy  are  defeated  at  all  points,  and 
to  press  them  with  cavalry,  or,  if  necessary,  with 
Wheat's  battalion  and  artillery.'  What  could  have  led 
him  to  such  a  conclusion,  I  was,  and  still  am,  utterly 
unable  to  imagine,  for  my  knowledge  was  certain  that 
he  had  received  no  other  dispatches  from  the  field,  and 
in  the  hearing  of  all  of  us,  the  noise  of  conflict  was  at 
least  as  loud  and  as  near  as  ever;  besides,  Jackson 
would  have  been  one  of  the  last  to  draw  any  inference 
from  the  latter  sign,  for,  as  he  told  me  once  before 
himself,  he  was  *  deaf  in  one  ear,  and  could  not  well 
distinguish  the  direction  of  sounds.'  Captain  Pendle 
ton,  however,  without  remark,  wrote  the  order,  or  what 
ever  it  might  be  termed,  to  Gen.  Ewell,  and,  as  he 
placed  the  sheet  of  paper  against  my  horse's  shoulder 
for  a  writing  desk,  I  saw  that  he  used  almost  exactly 
Jackson's  words.  With  no  little  expectation,  I  awaited 
the  result,  and,  accordingly,  m  about  half  an  hour,  and 


pom1  sspusLia  w 

aear  the  time  that  the  courier  must  L<vv  e  reached  the 
battle-field,  the  cannonade  began  to  slacken,  and 
presently  arrived  a  dispatch  from  Gen.  Ewe  11  stating, 
not,  indeed,  that  the  enemy  were  routod  BO  as  to  he 
pursued,  but  that  they  were  repulsed  at  all  polats." 

Observe  that  Captain  Howard  states  that  "  Ja<J; 
aon  returned  from  the  direction  of  Cross  Keys  a!  >out 
one  o'clock,  and  dismounted  from  his  horse  near  the 
bridge."  In  the  second  place,  "  I  remained  near  his 
aide  for  at  least  two  hours,  during  which  time  only 
couriers  came  from  the  battle-field," — and  at  thii 
time,  that  is,  at  three  o'clock,  Jackson  sent  his  singular 
arder. 

In  Febuary,  1864,  the  writer  of  this  wrote  to  Gen. 
Ewell  on  the  subject  of  Cross  Keys,  and  received  a 
detailed  and  interesting  memoir  of  the  action. 

"About  11,  A.  M.,"  says  Gen.  Ewell,  "the  enemy 
advanced  on  my  front,  driving  in  the  Fifteenth  Ala 
bama.  Their  batteries  were  mostly  opposite  mine, 
near  the  church,  and  the  artillery  engagement  began 
about  noon.  After  firing  some  time,  the  enemy  ad 
vanced  a  brigade  against  Trimble's  position,"  and 
Trimble  attacked,  drove  them,  advanced,  and  reached  a 
point  "  more  than  a  mile  "  beyond  his  first  position. 
By  the  least  calculation  that  firing,  which  lasted  "  some 
time,"  after  noon,  and  this  hard  attack,  will  bring  the 
hour  to  three.  Thus  the  enemy  were  really  "  defeated 
at  all  points,"  as  Jackson  stated  when  he  sent  hi* 
curious  order. 

"I  did  not  push  my  success  at  onco,  because  I  had 
no  cavalry,"  says  Ewell  in  his  report 


58  PORT  BSPUSLIU. 

u  Press  them  with  cavalry,"  sai  3  Jackson  in  his  «iu 
gnlar  dispatch,  sent  from  the  b  -idge  at  Port  Republic 

Who  will  undertake  to  explain  this  very  curious  ui 
cident  ? 

The  day  of  Port  Republic  dawned.  It  was  the  9tl 
A  June,  1862. 

Two  days  before,  Gen.  McClcllen  had  written  tx» 
Washington:  "I  shall  be  in  perfect  readiness  to 
move  forward  and  take  Richmond  the  moment  McCall 
reaches  here,  and  the  ground  will  admit  the  passage  of 
artillery." 

Jackson  was  to  "  have  his  say  "  in  that. 

At  nightfall  on  the  8th  this  was  the  situation  of  af 
fairs.  Fremont  had  been  repulsed,  and  was  held  IE 
check  at  Cross  Keys;  Shields  was  rapidly  advancing 
up  the  Luray  Valley,  and  had  almost  come  in  sight  of 
Port  Republic ;  Jackson  had  concentrated  his  main 
body  on  the  east  side  of  the  Shenandoah,  and  was 
ready  to  attack. 

At  sunrise  he  moved  forward  the  Old  Stonewall 
Brigade  in  front,  and  soon  the  dropping  fire  of  skir 
mishers  announced  that  his  advance  had  struck  the 
enemy. 

It  was  a  "  day  of  days,"  and  no  more  beautiful  spot 
jould  have  been  selected  hi  all  that  land  of  lands,  Vir 
ginia,  for  a  decisive  struggle.  The  sun  which  rose 
over  Austerlitz  was  not  more  brilliant  than  this  one 
whose  rosy  beams  lit  np  the  fields  of  golden  wheat, 
the  shining  river,  and  the  f  crest?,  echoirg  >?-h  the 
songs  of  birds.  Those  who  died  'Jir*-*,  r'a*  ,o  *  to  fix 
tlieir  last  looks  on  a  sky  of  oloudlfx  N*o  -o  fall 
asleep  amid  the  murmur  of  limp  Vi  v/v  <r\* 


POST  BSIUB^:O.  M 


(leu.  Shields  had  selected  ai  adiuirabk  position 
for  his  line.  Ilis  right  rested  oil  the  river,  bending 
here  in  the  shape  of  a  crescent  ;  then  ;e  the  line  ex 
tended  across  a  h'eld  of  wheat  t  >  a  rising  ground  ai 
the  foot  of  Cole  mountain,  a  spur  of  the  Bine  Ridge 
there  his  left  flank  was  protected  by  the  acclivity,  and 
strengthened  by  artillery. 

If  Jackson  attacked  the  enemy's  right  flank,  th« 
river  stopj>ed  him.  If  he  attacked  their  left,  the  steep 
side  of  the  mountain,  crowned  with  artillery,  met  him. 
If  he  assailed  the  centre,  to  the  infantry  tire  from  the 
iront  would  be  added  the  terrible  entilade  tire  of  the 
grins  upon  the  heights. 

Any  other  general  would  have  paused,  reconnoitered 
and  perhaps  retired.  Jackson  advanced  and  attacked. 
LI5s  plans  required  an  assault,  and  he  assaulted. 

The  sun  had  scarcely  risen  above  the  shaggy  summit 
of  the  Blue  Ridge,  when  the  Sic  Semper  banner  of 
Virginia  was  seen  bending  forward,  rippling  as  it 
moved  ;  the  rattle  of  musketry  resoi.  •  ded  ;  cheew 
echoed  from  the  mountain  side;  and  tne  Virginians 
of  the  Old  Brigade  threw  themselves  upon  the  foe 
whom  they  had  so  often  encountered. 

In  thiity  minutes  they  were  hurled  back,  torn, 
nleeding,  and  leaving  behind  them,  dead  or  dying. 
some  of  the  best  men  of  the  command.  The  enemy 
had  met  them  with  veritable  feu,  cTenfer.  From  the 
Federal  infantry  in  front  had  issued  rolling  volleys  of 
musketry  —  this  they  could  stand  ;  but  from  the  ac 
clivity  to  the  right  came  a  tire  of  shell,  round  shot,  and 
caniater,  so  furious  that  no  troops  could  face  it.  The 
field  was  swept  as  by  the  tiesom  of  destmctjoa.  The 
5* 


*4  POST  REPUBLIC. 

veterans  of  the  Stonewall  Brigade,  who  b*d  faceJ  un 
moved,  the  thunders  of  Manassas,  Kernstown,  McDow 
ell,  and  Winchester,  recoiled  from  thie  terrific  fire; 
and  with  the  Seventh  Louisiana  Regiment,  under  the 
daring  Harry  Hays,  fell  bac  k  in  disorder. 

The  repulse  seemed  decisive.  The  Federal  trocps 
rushed  forward  with  wild  cheers,  the  Star-spangled 
Banner  fluttering  in  the  wind.  Winder's  guns  went 
off  at  a  gallop  to  escape  the  danger  to  which  they  woro 
exposed  ;  and  although  two  Virginia  regiments  were 
thrown  forward,  and  fought  obstinately,  the  enemy 
still  advanced.  The  earth  was  littered  with  dead 
bodies  in  gray  coats.  A  gun  of  was  overturned, 
and  had  to  be  abandoned.  The  enemy  rushed  on, 
cheering  and  delivering  volleys  as  they  came.  At 
that  moment  the  battle  of  Port  Republic  was  lost. 

Jackson  sat  his  horse,  looking  on  with  that  grim 
flash  of  the  eye,  which  in  him  boded  no  good  to  his 
opponents.  The  stern  "  fighting  jaw "  was  locked  ; 
the  cheeks  glowed. 

A  rapid  glance  revealed  all.  It  was  not  the  fire  oi 
the  infantry  in  front  that  stopped  the  troops.  They 
had  met  that  fire  often,  and  were  more  than  a  match 
for  it.  It  was  the  murderous  enfilade  fire  of  shell  and 
canister  which  swept  the  field  from  the  heights  on  the 
right,  tearing  them  to  pieces  whenever  they  essayed  to 
advance.  In  face  o*  that  fire,  the  bravest  veterans 
were  unwilling  to  move  forward.  "  Why  do  so  ?"  they 
may  have  said ;  "  Jackson  is  coming ;  the  day  is  before 
as ;  he  will  find  some  way  to  stop  that  fire." 

Such  was  probably  the  reasoning  of  the  troops ;  at 
leas,  it  was  correct.  A  si  igle  glanoe  showed  Tackson 


PORT  REPUBLW.  M 

that  the  key  of  the  position  was  the  hill  <rowncd  with 
artillery.  As  long  as  these  swept  the  field,  he  was 
paralyzed;  and  every  moment  counted.  Beside  the 
foe  in  his  front,  there  was  another  more  dangerous  — 
Fremont  and  his  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand  men  at 
Cross  Keys.  In  front  of  Fremont  was  only  a  "  cor 
poral's  guard ''  of  infantry ;  he  heard  the  thunder  of 
the  fight  beyond  Port  Republic ;  he  knew  that  Shields 
was  heavily  engaged  with  Jackson,  —  at  all  risks  he 
would  come  to  his  succour.  Then  once  united,  the 
Federal  force  would  number  about  thirty  thousand 
men,  against  Jackson's  force  of  ten  or  twelve  thousand. 
It  was  easier  to  charge  the  artillery,  drive  the  enemy 
and  gain  a  victory,  when  that  enemy  numbered  onty 
twelve  thousand,  than  when  lie  numbered  thirty  thou 
sand. 

Nothing  remained  but  the  charge.  If  those  guna 
continued  to  pour  their  fire  on  the  Confederate  flank, 
the  battle  was  lost  —  retreat  through  Brown's  Gap  the 
only  course  left.  Jackson  looked  at  the  artillery  vom 
iting  shell  and  canister  more  furiously  than  before. 
Gen,  Taylor  was  near  him  —  his  brigade  had  just  ar 
rived. 

"Can  you  take  that  battery,  General!  It  must  be 
taken  1 "  said  Jackson,  briefly. 

Taylor's  sword  flashed  from  the  scabbard,  his  f  ace 
glowed.  Wheeling  his  horse,  he  galloped  back,  \v  .th- 
out  a  word,  to  his  men,  and,  rising  in  his  stirr  ips, 
ihouted,  pointing  with  his  sword  to  the  Federa)  ar 
tillery  : 

"  Louisianians  1  can  you  take  that  battery  ? " 

Wild  cheers  replied,  and,  reaching  at  a  bound  the 


POST 


head  of  hia  column,  Taylor  ordered  a  charge  upon  the 
guns. 

They  were  four  Louisiana  regiments  one  from  7ir 
ginia,  and  Wheat's  battalion  of  "Tigers."  As  they 
moved,  loud  cheers  from  the  Federal  lines  on  their  left 
resounded  —  there  the  enemy  was  driving  everything 
before  him.  They  pressed  on.  The  ground  they  moved 
over  was  terrible  —  steep,  rugged,  tangled,  almost  im 
passable.  But  this  did  not  stop  them.  Up  the  rough 
ascent,  through  the  undergrowth,  scattering,  but  reform 
ing  quickly,  they  continued  to  advance. 

Soon  they  reached  a  wood,  beyond  which  a  narrow 
valley  of  open  ground  only,  intervened  between  them 
and  the  Federal  artillery.  From  the  left  rose  a  roar 
of  triumph  more  ferocious  than  the  first  ;  it  was  the 
Federal  right  wing  driving  Jackson's  line  before  it. 

An  echo  to  that  shout  comes  back  from  the  moun 
tain.  It  is  the  cheer  of  the  Louisianians  as  they  emerge 
from  cover,  sweep  down  the  hill,  and,  crossing  the 
valley,  rush  headlong  toward  the  muzzles  of  the  Fed 
eral  artillery. 

The  charge  is  magnificent.  There  will  be  only  one 
more  as  desperate  —  that  of  Pickett's  Virginians  on  the 
last  day  of  Gettysburg.  As  they  rush  up  the  hill,  the 
Federal  batteries  direct  upon  them  their  most  fatal 
thunders.  Shell,  round  shot,  and  grape  strike  them  in 
the  face  ;  the  ranks  are  torn  asunder  ;  and  where  a  lino 
but  now  advanced,  are  seen  only  dead  bodies,  without 
legs,  without  arms,  without  heads,  with  breasts  torn 
open,  the  whole  lying  still,  or  weltering  in  pools  of 
blood.  The  Louisianians  have  dashed  into  the  mouths 
ot  the  cannon;  had  their  bodies  torn  to  pieces;  and 


POST  REPUBLIO.  5? 

we  dead  or  dying.  Hays,  De  Choiseul,  and  one  him 
dred  and  fifty-eight  out  of  three  hundred  and  eight 
men  of  the  Seventh  Louisiana  have  fallen.  The  other 
regiments  tell  the  same  story.  The  command  is  sliat 
tered;  but  enough  men  are  left  to  mount  the  slops, 
seize  the  guns,  and  bury  their  bayonets  in  the  breasts 
of  the  cannoneers  as  they  fly.  The  Federal  infantry 
supports  recoil  like  the  artillerists;  the  cannon  are 
taken ;  Taylor  holds  the  crest,  every  foot  of  which  he 
has  bought  with  blood. 

But  he  is  not  to  retain  it.  A  fresh  brigade  advances 
upon  his  weary  handful ;  a  determined  charge  is  mad^ ; 
the  Louisianians  are  driven  back  by  weight  of  numbers, 
and  the  enemy  recapture  the  guns.  But  they  ha^e 
hard  metal  to  deal  with.  No  hammer  stroke  seems  to 
break  or  even  weaken  it.  The  Louisianians  again  ad 
vance  before  the  guns  can  be  turned  on  them ;  make  a 
furious  countercharge,  and  the  second  time  the  guns 
are  taken  by  them. 

Three  times  the  Federal  artillery  was  thus  lost  and 
won,  in  spite  of  the  most  desperate  fighting.  All  honor 
to  courage  wherever  it  displays  itself,  under  the  blue 
fiout  or  under  the  gray ;  and  the  Federal  forces  fought 
that  day  with  a  gallantry  that  was  superb.  They  died 
where  they  stood,  like  brave  men  and  true  soldiers  — 
an  enemy  records  that,  and  salutes  them. 

Taylor's  charge  won  the  day  of  Port  Republic.  That 
battle  belongs  to  Louisiana,  and  she  has  a  right  to  be 
proud  of  it.  To  meet  the  heavy  assault  thus  directed 
against  his  left,  Gen.  Shields  was  forced  to  send  thither 
a  large  body  of  fresh  troops.  These  were  taken  f  roio 


58  PORT  REPUBLIC. 

his  centre  and  right  —  thus  Jackson's  left  and  centre 
were  relieved. 

The  Federal  guns  had  swept  the  field  —  Taylor  had 
silenced  them  The  Federal  infantry  had  concentrated 
in  the  centre  —  Taylor  drew  it  off.  That  was  the  result 
of  the  great  charge. 

Jackson  saw  all  at  a  glance.  The  moment  for  the 
great  blow  had  arrived.  The  enemy  were  moving  to 
their  left ;  that  enabled  him  to  move  to  his  right. 

Then  the  gray  masses  were  seen  hastening  toward 
the  mountain,  as  though  driven  by  the  wind.  Winder's 
old  brigade  formed  in  serried  phalanx ;  his  batteries 
redoubled  their  thunders.  Connor  rushed  to  the  relief 
of  Taylor,  who,  thus  reinforced,  turned  like  a  tige* 
upon  his  foes.  From  that  instant  the  battle  was  a  wild, 
furious,  insensate  grapple.  The  mountain  gorges  thun 
dered  ;  the  musketry  rolled  through  the  woods  in  one 
sustained  and  deafening  crash.  Under  this  resolute 
and  unshrinking  advance  the  Federal  lines  began  per 
ceptibly  to  hesitate  and  waver. 

Hesitation  in  the  decisive  hour  of  battle  is  destruc 
tion.  That  last  charge  broke  the  army  of  Gen. 
Shields  to  pieces.  Struck  in  front  by  the  musket  fire, 
and  torn  in  flank  by  the  artillery,  the  Federal  line* 
gave  way;  the  Confederates  rushed  upon  them  —  in 
ten  minutes  the  battle-field  presented  the  tragic  epecta 
cle  of  one  army  flying  in  disorder  before  another 
pressing  on  with  cheers  of  triumph. 

Fit»mont  had  been  only  checked;  Shields  \rafc 
n/uted.  His  forces  were  pursued  by  infantry,  artillery, 
and  cavalry,  until  they  disappeared  beyond  a  bend  of 
the  river,  and  Jackson  was  master  of  the  country 


POST  REPUBLIC!.  59 

"  1  never  saw  so  many  dead  in  such  a  small  space  in 
all  my  life  before,"  he  said,  as  he  rode  over  the  field  ; 
but  never  was  blood  shed  to  more  advantage. 

It  was  while  Jackson  was  riding  thus  slowly  across  the 
ground,  that  a  roar  came  suddenly  from  the  opposite 
bank  of  the  river.  Then  shell  began  to  whistle — and 
these  shell  burst  right  in  the  nddst  of  the  ambulances 
full  of  wounded,  and  the  parties  engaged  in  burying 
the  Federal  as  well  as  Confederate  dead.  Mr 
Cameron,  chaplain  of  the  First  Maryland,  was  read 
ing  the  burial  service  when  a  cannon  ball  tore  through 
the  group,  and  the  bearers  dropped  the  dead.  Now, 
whence  came  that  fire,  so  opposed,  one  would  say,  to  the 
usages  of  war? 

It  came  from  Gen.  Fremont.  (Unable  to  cross 
the  river,  as  Jackson  had  burned  the  bridge,  and 
forced  thus  to  witness  the  defeat  of  his  Lieutenant  be 
fore  his  very  face,  he  vented  his  wrath  upon  the  victoi 
by  that  firing. 

That  roar  was  a  grim  sound,  but  not  so  grim  as  the 
frown  of  Jackson. 

"  "While  the  forces  of  Shieldo,"  he  wrote  afterwards, 
"were  in  full  retreat,  and  our  taoops  in  pursuit.  Fre 
mont  appeared  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  Shenandoah 
with  his  army,  and  opened  his  artillery  ?n  our  ambu 
lances  and  parties  engaged  in  the  humane  labors  of  at 
tending  to  our  dead  and  wounded,  and  the  dead  and 
wounded  of  the  enemy? 

Jackson  makes  no  comment ;  let  us  imitate  him,  or 
nearly. 

It  was  natural,  perhaps,  that  Gen.  FremcDt  should 
fire  at  gray  uniforms;  but  did  he  know  that  those 


POST  REPUbJJO. 

*lad  soldiers  were  burying  his  own  dead  ?  ThoM 
were  Federal  dead  we  were  burying,  as  well  as  Con 
federate  ;  Federal  souls  were  prayed  for  as  well  as 
others.  It  was  a  harsh  interruption,  that  fire  upon  the 
dead  men  in  blue  uniforms,  and  it  was  a  pity.  They 
were  brave — never  men  fought  better. 

A  few  paragraphs  will  terminate  this  sketch  of  a 
memorable  battle. 

Port  Republic  is  a  landmark.  It  sums  up  one 
epoch  —  after  it,  the  war  entered  upon  a  new  phase — 
invasion.  It  may  be  objected  that  Cold  Harbor  ter 
minated  this  first  epoch ;  but  the  reply  is,  that  Port 
Republic  decided  Cold  Harbor.  From  the  moment 
when  Jackson  crushed  the  Federal  column  operating 
in  the  Valley,  Gen.  Lee  could  concentrate  the  en 
tire  force  in  Virginia,  in  front  of  McClellan,  and  that 
concentration,  as  events  showed,  meant  victory. 

Thus  Port  Republic  was  not  only  the  successful 
termination  of  a  rapid,  shifting,  and  arduous  can  paign 
— it  was,  besides  this,  one  of  those  peculiar  ctatesta 
which  act  upon  events  around  them,  as  the  keystone 
acts  upon  the  arch.  With  Jackson  beaten  here,  Rich 
mond,  humanly  speaking,  was  lost,  and  with  it  Vir 
ginia.  With  Jackson  victorious,  Richmond  and  Vir 
gmia  were  saved,  for  McClellan  was  repulsed,  and  the 
Southern  Cross  moved  northward  to  invade  in  turn  tht 
territory  of  the  enemy. 

It  is  seen  to  have  been  a  hard  fight.    At 
(/old  Harbor,  Cedar  Run,  the  second  Manassas, 
borg;    Fredericksburg,    Chancellorsville,    Gettysburg, 
Spottaylvauia,  and  Petersburg,  the  Confederate  forces 


fOST  RSPUBLIO.  61 

were  more  01  less  outnumbered.  At  I  *rt  Republic, 
Jackson  fought  nearly  man  to  man — and  -victory  was 
long  doubtful.  At  one  time  the  battle  was  lost ;  it 
was  only  gained  at  last  by  the  fire,  force,  rush,  and 
dogged  obstinacy  of  the  elite  of  the  Southern  troops 
resolved  to  conquer  or  die. 

"Through  God's  blessing,"  Jackson  wrote  in  his 
despatch,  "  the  enemy  near  Port  Republic  was  this  daj 
routed,  with  the  loss  of  six  pieces  of  his  artillery." 

That  phrase,  "  through  God'p  blessing,"  probably  in 
dicated  more  in  the  silent  soldier  than  in  others.  At 
the  moment  when  his  lines  were  reeling,  an  unseen 
Hand  had  seemed  to  support  him,  an  invisible  Power 
to  fight,  for  him.  And  he  had  triumphed. 

On  the  morning  of  the  10th  of  June,  Jackson  was 
as  free  as  the  wind  to  move  whithersoever  he  willed. 
Shields  was  beaten ;  Fremont  retreating — the  splendid 
prize  of  the  Virginia  Valley,  for  which  the  opponents 
had  been  playing,  had  fallen  to  the  lot  of  Jackson. 
"What  would  he  do  with  it?"  What  were  his 
plans? 

Six  days  afterwards  a  cavalier  entered  the  little  vil 
lage  of  Mount  Crawford,  on  the  valley  turnpike,  about 
midnight.  In  the  middle  of  the  street,  deserted  at 
that  hour  by  all  citizens,  a  solitary  figure  on  horseback 
svas  awaiting  the  new  comer — Col.  Munford,  com 
manding  the  cavalry.  He  had  received  that  day  a 
note  from  Jackson,  directing  him  to  "meet  him  at 
eleven  that  night  at  the  head  of  the  street  at  Mount 
Crawford,  and  not  to  ask  for  him  or  anybody." 

Jackson  WAS  punctually  at  .he  rendezvous,  as  hai 


W  POST  REPUBLIC. 

been,  seen  ;  Col.  Munford  arrived,  and  .  hey  new  con 
versed  for  some  time  in  low  tones.  When  they  parted, 
the  Colonel  had  received  his  instructions,  and  returned 
to  Harrisonburg. 

Let  us  follow  the  Colonel.  At  his  head-quartere 
were  a  number  of  Federal  surgeons,  with  ambulances, 
come  to  carry  off  Fremont's  wounded.  To  their  re 
quest  Colonel  Munford  replied  that  he  must  first  send 
to  Jackson  for  instructions,  and  a  messenger  was  sent 
at  once.  He  speedily  returned,  and  in  the  hearing  of 
the  Federal  surgeons,  through  a  wooden  partition, 
reported : 

"  Gen.  Jackson  told  me  to  tell  you,  Colonel,  that 
the  wounded  Yankees  are  not  to  be  taken  away,  and 
the  surgeons  are  to  be  sent  back  with  the  message  that 
he  can  take  care  of  their  wounded  men  in  his  hospitals. 
He  is  coming  right  on  himself,  with  heavy  reinforce 
ments.  Whiting's  division  is  up,  and  Hood's  is  com 
ing.  The  whole  road  from  here  to  Staunton  is  per 
fectly  lined  with  troops,  and  so  crowded  that  I  could 
hardly  ride  along." 

The  federal  surgeons  overheard  every  word  of  this, 
and  when  Col.  Munford  summoned  them  in  and  in 
formed  them  simply  that  Jackson  would  care  for  their 
wounded,  they  said  no  more.  On  the  same  day  they 
returned  to  Gen.  Fremont.  On  the  next,  the  whole 
Federal  army  fell  back  to  Strasburg,  and  began  to  en 
trench  against  the  anticipated  attack. 

Colonel  Munford  had  successfully  carried  out  the 
order  of  the  solitary  horseman  at  Mount  Crawford : 
"  Produce  npon  the  enemy  the  impression  that  I  am 
goiixg  to  advance," 


PORT  BBPUBlia  99 

While  Fi-emont  was  fortifying  at  Strasburg,  Jackson 
was  crossir  %  the  Blue  Ridge  to  throw  himself  against 
the  right  -ring  of  Gen,  McClellan  in  the  Chick* 


•Brer  runes  AITD  TBS  SIYEK 

Oa  the  left  bank  of  the  Chickahoininy,  about  two 
miles  from  New  Bridge,  stands,  in  the  midet  of  bleak 
ind  melancholy  fields,  a  lofty,  rugged,  and  solitary 
oak,  riven  by  cannon  balls. 

At  about  two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  between  the 
27th  and  28th  of  June,  1862,  two  officers  —  one  of 
them  very  illustrious,  the  other  very  obscure  —  had 
wrapped  themselves  in  their  blankets,  and  were  falling 
asleep  beneath  this  tree,  when  a  third  personage, 
entirely  unattended,  rode  up,  dismounted,  and  lying 
down  between  the  weary  men,  began  to  con  ^erse. 

"  Yesterday  was  the  most  terrific  fire  of  musketry  L 
ever  heard,"  he  said  ;  and  any  one  who  had  listened  to 
the  accents  of  that  brief,  low,  abrupt  voice,  would  have 
recognized  it.  The  speaker  was  Stonewall  Jackson', 
be  was  addressing  General  Stuart,  and  he  referred  to 
the  bitter,  desperate,  and  bloody  conflict  of "  Cold 
Harbor." 

A  battle  which  the  man  ot  Manassas,  Jlernstown, 
and  Port  Republic  called  "  terrific  "  must  be  worthy  of 
description,  l^et  us  therefore  try  to  paint  the  grand 
and  absorbing  panorama  which  those  summer  days  of 
1862  enrolled  npon  the  banks  of  the  Chickahominy. 

(Ml 


PINES  AND  T4S  SEVEN  DA  F&          6> 


War  reached  its  bloodiest  thmax  there,  amid  the 
swampy  fields  and  the  tangled  underwood  —  here  was 
struck  a  blow  which  shook  the  fabric  of  the  Federal 
Government.  It  did  not  overthrow  it  ;  but  it  made 
the  huge  mass  tremble. 

One  month  before,  that  is  to  say,  at  the  close  of 
May,  McClellan  had  ascended  the  Peninsula  ;  thrown 
hia  left  wing  across  the  Chickahominy  ;  erected  ad 
mirable  works  there  —  and  with  his  army  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  had  rooted  himself 
within  sight  of  the  spires  of  Richmond.  Then  com 
menced  his  slow,  steady,  inexorable  advance.  Inch  by 
inch,  foot  by  foot,  ho  began  to  traverse  the  four  or  five 
miles  which  separated  him  from  the  "  doomed  city." 
It  was  a  siege  corrmenced  at  the  distance  of  five  miles, 
as  Grant's  was  afterwards  commenced  at  the  distance 
of  twenty  —  <rid  every  day  McClellan  ascended  his 
tall  tree  on  the  bank  of  the  river  to  reconnoitre  through 
his  glasses  ^ho  roof-tops  of  the  city  which  he  was  thus 
assailing  by  "  regular  approaches." 

In  the  last  days  of  May  he  was  in  excellent  spirite. 
His  dispatches  will  show  that.  His  great  army  was  in 
light  marching  order  ;  his  left  was  pushed  to  a  point 
npon  the  Williamsburgh  road,  where  seven  lofty  pines 
gave  their  name  to  the  locality  ;  thence  he  was  on  the 
point  of  springing  upon  the  enemy  in  his  front,  when 
that  enemy  sprung  upon  him. 

Johnston,  the  ccol  and  wary  soldier  who  had  foiled 
his  great  adversary  at  Manassas,  now  took  the  initiative. 

On  the  last  day  of  May  the  Southern  lines  advanced 
into  the  swampy  thicket  at  Seven  Pines  ;  *  furious 
assault  was  made  upon  the  enemy's  left  there,  and  on 


66         SEVEN  PINES  AND  THE  SEVEN  DAYS. 

his  right  at  Fair  Oaks  ;  after  one  of  the  m^st  obstinate 
and  sanguinary  struggles  of  the  war,  the  Fedtral  left, 
under  General  Casey,  was  swept  from  the  field,  shat 
tered,  paralyzed,  and  with  "  no  longer  any  fight  '  in 
that  wing  of  the  United  States  Arrar.  The  enemy 
fought  gallantly  at  Seven  Pines.  Did  the  "  rebels  " 
fight  as  bravely?  Let  a  member  of  the  New  Sork 
Artillery,  writing  to  the  Cincinnati  Commercial  news 
paper,  give  his  evidence : 

"Our  shot  tore  their  ranks  wide  open,"  eays  this 
writer,  "  and  shattered  them  asunder  in  a  manner  that 
was  frightful  to  witness;  but  they  closed  up  at  once, 
and  came  on  as  steadily  as  English  veterans.  When 
they  got  within  four  hundred  yards,  we  closed  our  case 
shot  and  opened  on  them  with  canister;  and  such  de 
struction  I  never  elsewhere  witnessed.  At  each  dis 
charge  great  gaps  were  made  in  their  ranks  —  indeed 
whole  companies  went  down  before  that  murderous 
fire  —  but  they  closed  up  with  an  order  and  discipline 
that  was  awe-inspiring.  ...  It  was  awful  to  see 
their  ranks  torn  and  shattered  by  every  discharge  of 
canister  that  we  poured  into  their  faces,  but  they  closed 
up  and  still  kept  advancing  right  in  face  of  the  fire. 
At  one  time,  three  lines,  one  behind  the  other,  were 
steadily  advancing,  and  three  of  their  flags  were 
brought  in  range  of  one  of  our  guns,  shotted  with  can 
ister.  '  Fire ! '  shouted  the  gunner,  and  down  went 
those  three  flags,  and  a  gap  was  opened  through  three 
linea  more,  as  if  a  thunderbolt  had  torn  through  them, 
and  their  dead  lay  in  swathe.  But  they  at  once  closed 
up,  and  came  steadily  on,  never  halting  or  wavering, 
tight  through  the  woods,  over  the  fence,  through  the 


SEVEN  PINEB  AND  THE  SEVEN1  DAF&         67 

field,  right  up  to  our  guns,  and  sweeping  everything 
before  them,  captured  every  piece  1 " 

If  that  had  been  written  by  a  Confedeiate,  it  might 
be  doubted  by  some  readers.  But  the  writer  was  a 
soldier  of  the  Federal  Army — was  there  anything  to 
make  him  say  that,  but  a  love  of  truth?  He  saw  a 
charge  which  the  Old  Guard  of  Napoleon  never  sur 
passed  and  he  described  what  he  saw,  like  a  worthy 
soldier,  forgetting  under  which  flag  he  fought. 

At  nightfall  on  the  31st  of  May,  the  Federal  left 
on  the  south  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  was  driven 
It  had  fallen  back  from  Seven  Pines — the  Confeder 
ates  held  the  works  there — a  bloody  if  not  decisive 
blow  had  been  struck  at  Gen.  McClellan's  programme. 

But  Johnston  had  been  wounded  by  a  fragment  of 
shell,  and  was  lying  faint  and  pale  in  his  house  upon 
Church  Hill,  in  Richmond.  Who  was  to  succeed  him  ? 

All  eyes  turned  to  a  man  as  yet  little  known  except 
in  military  quarters — an  officer,  first  of  the  engineers, 
then  of  the  cavalry — Robert  E.  Lee.  He  was  then  in 
Richmond,  rode  every  day  out  to  the  lines ;  but  had 
no  command.  He  was  now  assigned  to  duty  as  com 
mander  of  the  Confederate  forces,  in  place  of  Johnston. 

The  heavy  and  firm  hand  of  the  great  Virginian  was 
soon  felt  at  the  helm.  The  ship  which  had  drifted 
rudderless  for  a  moment,  after  the  fall  of  Johnston, 
was  again  under  command,  and  bore  down  upon  the 
enemy's  line  of  battle,  as  Nelson's  flag  ship  did  at  Tra 
falgar. 

The  moment  called  for  action,  action,  action !  im 
portant  events  were  taking  place  in  every  part  of  tha 


«8         8BVBN  PINX8  AND  THE  SEVEN  DATS. 

country,  and  Jackson  was  conducting  to  a  triumphant 
issue  the  great  campaign  of  the  Valley. 

On  the  day  after  the  battle  of  Seven  Pines,  "  Old 
Stonewall,"  as  the  country  now  began  to  call  niin, 
passed  between  the  converging  columns  of  Fremont 
and  Shields  at  Strasburg ;  struck  them  with  his  right 
hand  and  his  left,  and  retreated  with  his  prisoners  and 
spoils  toward  the  Upper  Valley,  where  nine  days  after 
ward  he  was  to  tight  the  battles  of  Cross  Keys  and  Port 
Republic,  and  remain  the  master  of  the  situation. 

Lee  had  scarcely  taken  command  when  the  intelli 
gence  of  the  victory  at  Port  Republic  came  to  him. 
borne  on  the  breeze  of  the  mountains.  Fremont  wa& 
paralyzed,  which  was  as  good  as  routed;  Jackson  was 
free  to  move  wherever  he  was  ordered ;  now  was  the 
time  for  a  great  blow  at  McClellan,  and  the  arm  wa 
raised. 

Before  it  fell,  it  was  necessary  to  discover  whethei 
an  opening  existed  in  the  enemy's  coat  of  mail,  through 
which  the  point  of  the  weapon  could  pierce  him.  On 
his  left,  below  Seven  Pines,  to  which  locality  he  had 
again  advanced,  the  armor  was  perfect.  Frowning 
works  behind  bristling  abattis  rose  everywhere,  and  it 
svas  determined  to  assail,  if  possible,  the  Federal  right 
beyond  the  Chickahominy.  An  important  point  was 
still,  however,  to  be  decided.  Had  Gen.  McClellan 
fortified  his  right  wing  as  he  had  fortified  his  left? 
Was  he  ready  on  the  north  bank  as  on  the  south  of  the 
stream?  To  determine  this  point,  Stuart  was  sent 
with  fifteen  hundred  horsemen  to  make  a  reconnois- 
innce. 

Stuart — that  model  cavalier  with  the  keen-edged 


SEVEN  PINEB  AND  THE  SEVEN  DATS.          fi* 

sabre,  the  floating  plume,  and  the  soul  that  never  when 
the  hour  was  darkest,  bated  one  jot  or  tittle  of  the 
heart  of  hope  —  Stuart  set  out  one  night  about  the 
middle  of  June,  at  moonrise,  struck  for  Old  Church, 
beyond  the  Federal  right ;  ascertained  that  they  had 
no  defences  in  that  quarter ;  drove  their  cavalry  before 
him  ;  made  the  circuit  of  McClellan's  ariny,  not  intend 
ing  to  surrender,  but,  if  intercepted,  to  "  die  game ; " 
crossed  the  Chickahominy  far  below;  and  made  his 
re-entrance  into  the  Confederate  lines  just  as  the  Fed 
eral  forces  rushed  upon  him. 

"  He  has  gone  in  at  the  back  door,"  said  Col.  Rush, 
of  the  Federal  Lancers,  on  returning  from  the  pursuit. 
"  I  saw  his  rear-guard  as  it  passed  the  swamp." 

But  the  information  was  the  important  thing,  whether 
brought  in  at  the  back-door  or  the  front.  Stuart  rode 
thirty  miles  to  Richmond  on  the  night  of  his  entry  into 
Charles  City,  below  Malvern  Hill,  and  before  daylight 
Gen.  Lee  and  the  authorities  knew  that  the  Federal 
right  beyond  Mechanicsville  was  undefended. 

From  that  moment  the  best  plan  of  assault  was  ob 
vious.  In  front  at  Seven  Pines,  the  enemy  were  posted 
behind  works,  so  heavy  and  complete,  that  the  best 
troops  in  the  world  would  have  recoiled  from  them, 
or  dashed  themselves  to  pieces,  without  hope.  On 
the  left  were  defences  almost  as  strong,  and  to  reach 
them —  even  to  arrive  within  range  of  the  long  rows  of 
cannon — it  was  necessary  first  to  wade  through  the 
frightful  ooze  of  White  Oak  Swamp.  Thus  both  these 
approaches;  in  front  and  on  the  Federal  left,  were  im 
practicable.  The  right  remained,  and  that  right  was 
now  kno^ra  to  be  open,  undefended ;  here  was  the 


70         BBVEN  PnfSS  AND  THE  8SVEN  DA  Y& 

veritable  hole  in  the  cuirasse  through  which  the  Oca 
federate  sword's  point  could  reach  the  Federal  heart. 

The  hand  to  grasp  that  weapon  must  be  trusty,  the 
eye  to  direct  the  blow,  clear  and  sure.  The  firm  and 
daring  hand  of  Jackson  was  best  of  all  suited  for  the 
work;  and  the  issue  of  affairs  at  Port  Republic  had 
left  him  free  as  the  wind  to  move  wherever  he  was 
needed. 

He  was  beyond  the  Blue  Ridge,  but  it  is  certain  that 
in  spirit  he  was  on  the  Chickahominy.  He  knew  what 
was  demanded  of  him,  and  as  though  obeying  a  voice 
which  called  him,  hastened,  in  the  language  of  his  men, 
to  "strip  for  a  fight."  Then  the  order  came,  and  at 
once  he  began  to  move. 

The  column  crossed  the  Blue  Ridge  and  headed  to 
ward  the  lowland.  The  soldiers  had  ceased  to  ask  any 
questions.  In  a  general  order,  Jackson  had  forbidden 
all  discussion  of  his  movements;  enjoined  upon  the 
troops  not  even  to  inquire  the  names  of  the  villages 
tlirough  which  they  passed,  and  to  reply,  "I  don't 
know,"  to  any  question.  The  order  was  obeyed.  See 
ing  a  man  climb  a  fence  to  pull  some  cherries : 

"  Where  are  you  going  ? "  asked  Jackson. 

"  I  don't  know,"  was  the  reply. 

"  To  what  command  do  you  belong  I" 

« I  don't  know." 

"Well,  what  State  are  you  from?" 

"  I  don't  know." 

A  dry  smile  flitted  across  the  tanned  face  under  the 
i on-scorched  cadet  cap,  and  the  man  in  the  dingy  gray 
uniform  rode  on.  His  entire  command  had  become 
veritable  "  Know-Nothings." 


BBVBN  PINEA  AND  THE  UB\*EN  DATh          73 

Tliat  result  was  more  important  than  it  may  appear. 
The  great  point  was  that  deserters  should  have  little  tt 
communicate,  even  if  they  knew  where  to  find  thi 
<memy,  and  that  Gen.  McClellan  should  be  the  j  reateg* 
Know-Nothing  of  all.  The  plan  succeeded.  In  Wa&u 
ington  and  on  the  Chickahominy  there  was  utter  ignor 
ance  of  Jackson's  whereabouts.  The  secret  wa»t  at 
closely  guarded  in  the  Confederate  army. 

On  the  night  of  the  26th  of  June,  Gen.  Stuart  handed 
to  the  present  writer  a  dispatch  for  delivery  to  a  confi 
dential  emissary  before  daylight.  It  was  directed 
simply,  "Gen.  T.  J.  Jackson,  Somewhere."  Ashland, 
within  sixteen  miles  of  Richmond,  was  this  "Some 
where."  Jackson  had  reached  that  point,  and  his  heavy 
arm  was  already  raised  to  strike.  G^_  McCIeilar.. 
meanwhile,  was  smoking  his  cigar,  and  looking  at  the 
spire  of  St.  Paul's  Church  in  Richmond,  where  he  pro 
bably  expected  soon  to  hear  the  prayer  for  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States. 

There  were  many  who  would  doubtless  have  bee^ 
glad  to  have  seen  that  edifice,  and  all  others  in  the 
"  doomed  city,"  blown  to  atoms  with  gunpowder.  This 
soldier  and  gentleman  had  no  such  desire  or  intention. 
At  West  Point  he  had  learned  war,  not  rapine. 

From  this  rapid  summary  of  the  "situation,"  the 
reader  will  be  able  to  form  a  just  estimate  of  the  rela 
tive  positions  which  the  two  great  adversaries,  Lee  and 
McClellan,  occupied  toward  each  other,  on  the  night 
of  the  26th  of  June,  1862. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Chickahominy,  the  fields  of 
Henrico,  Hanover,  and  New  Kent,  were  dark  with  the 
•warm  of  Federal  soldiers,  in  their  bright  blue  uni- 


r2         BEVBN  PINB8  AND  THE  SEVEN  DATS, 

forma.  The  burnished  bayonets  glittered  ami!  the 
half -destroyed  woods  —  artillery  rumbled  across  the 
desolated  fields — every  dwelling-house  was  overrun  — 
the  whole  face  of  the  earth  had  become  one  huge,  dirty 
'jamp.  The  very  owls  and  whipj^oorwills  had  disap 
peared  in  the  tangled  depths  of  the  swamp  —  the  ven 
omous  moccasins  of  the  ooze  had  been  frightened  into 
their  holes  by  the  tramp,  the  roll,  and  the  thunder  of 
moving  columns  of  infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery. 

The  army  numbered  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou 
sand  men,  one  hundred  and  twelve  thousand  effective 
for  the  field — see  the  Federal  reports — and  this  great 
engine,  Gen.  McClellan  was  about  to  hurl  against 
Lee,  whose  force  numbered  about  sixty  thousand,  when 
"contrabands"  hastened  in,  and  announced  that  he 
himself  was  to  be  attacked;  that  the  dreaded  Stone 
wall  Jackson  was  on  his  flank,  ready  to  assail  him.  At 
noon  on  the  26th  of  June,  he  wrote  to  Washington: 

"  I  have  just  heard  that  our  advanced  cavalry  pick 
ets  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Chickahominy,  are  being 
driven  in.  It  is  probably  Jackson's  advance  guard." 

Two  hours  and  a  half  afterwards  he  was  sure  of  the 
fact 

"  Jackson  is  driving  in  my  pickets,  etc.,  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Chickahominy." 

An  hour  afterwards,  A.  P.  Hill  had  crossed  the 
stream  at  Meadow  Bridge,  nearly  north  of  Richmond ; 
had  hastened  forward  to  Mechanicsville,  and  then 
thrown  himself  like  a  tiger  against  the  Federal  works, 
whnL  he  carried  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet.  The 
bridge  being  thus  uncovered,  Longstreet  and  D.  H. 
Kill  crossed  —  the  enemy  were  again  assailed  at  Be* 


SBVEN  FINES  AND  THE  8BVEN  DATA         7* 

ver  Dam — at  daylight  on  the  morning  of  the  27th, 
Jackson  swept  around  their  right,  and  leaving  the 
ground  behind  them  encumbered  with  burning  stores, 
they  fell  back  rapidly  to  the  formidable  position  be 
hind  Powhite  Creek. 

Lee's  excellent  plan  of  battle  was  thus  in  progress 
of  execution.  It  was  simple,  as  all  great  things  are. 
While  Magruder  remained  in  front  of  Sever  Pines, 
that  is  to  say,  the  Federal  centre  opposite  Richmond, 
with  orders  to  hold  his  position  at  all  hazards,  and  to 
the  last,  the  remainder  of  the  army  was  to  cross  at 
Meadow  Bridge  and  Mechanicsville,  and  sweep  down 
the  left  branch  of  the  stream  in  echelon  of  divisions, 
the  left  in  advance. 

From  left  to  right  the  line  would  be,  Jackson  —  D 
n.  Hill  —  A.  P.  Hill — Longstreet;  Longstreet  tc 
make  a  heavy  feint  on  the  river's  bank ;  the  two  Hills 
to  protect  his  flank  and  the  centre ;  Jackson  to  move 
around,  and  coming  in  upon  their  right,  compel  them 
to  abandon  their  strong  works,  come  out  into  the  open 
fields,  and  either  fight  there,  or  retreat  toward  the 
WTiite  House — that  is,  their  bread  and  meat. 

Let  the  reader  glance  at  the  map.  Without  a  map, 
all  descriptions  of  military  movements  are,  as  Hano'et 
says,  but  "  words,  words,  words !  "  Pushing  through 
the  fields  and  forests  of  Hanover,  Jackson  was  to  gain 
ground  toward  the  Pamunkey ;  reach  out  his  ponder 
ous  arm  beyond  Cold  Harbor;  envelope  the  enemy's 
position  on  Powhite  Creek ;  and  crush  them  in  his 
grasp.  If  they  drew  bacK  and  eluded  him,  so  much 
the  better.  In  open  fight,  he  would  dash  hem  to 


T4      BBV3X  pnrsa  AND  mar  asvss  DATS. 

pieces,  which  was  cheaper  than  a  mortal  grapple  witk 
them  behind  the  breastworks. 

Such  was  the  order  of  battle  conceived  and  mapped 
out,  in  its  minutest  details,  by  the  clear  brain  of  th« 
great  soldier  at  the  head  of  the  Confederate  Army. 
What  Lee  had  thus  matured  in  his  tent,  was  translated 
into  action  in  the  field,  with  little  modification.  Long- 
street  and  A.  P.  Ilill  threw  their  columns  against  the 
enemy  near  Games'  Mill,  and  closed  in,  in  a  band  tc 
hand  struggle;  nearly  the  whole  Federal  Army  was 
discovered  there  in  front  of  these  two  divisions,  and 
Jackson,  advancing  grimly,  steadily,  like  a  coming 
Fate,  to  his  appointed  work  of  getting  in  the  enemy's 
rear,  was  now  recalled,  and  ordered  to  concentrate  his 
entire  force  near  the  Old  Cold  Harbor  House,  and 
attack. 

He  obeyed.  The  roar  of  artillery  there  doubtless 
drew  him ;  for  under  that  calm  exterior  was  the  in 
born  spirit  of  "  light "  which  characterizes  the  lion  or 
the  tiger.  At  the  word,  lie  changed  his  line  of  march, 
half  faced  to  the  right ;  and  at  five  in  the  afternoon 
swept  forward  to  the  arena  upon  vThich  the  mighty 
adversaries  had  grappled  in  a  mortal  embrace. 

He  did  not  come  too  soon.  Let  us  see  what  had 
happened,  but  look  first  at  the  topography  of  the  coun 
try.  The  character  of  the  ground  in  battles  often 
saves  or  destroys.  A  swamp  involves  the  fate  of  five 
thousand  men ;  a  inile  of  open  field  in  front  of  works 
crowned  with  cannon,  means  ten  thousand  corpses.  In 
the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor  neither  the  swamp  nor  the 
open  ground  was  wanting,  and  it  was  the  assailing 


BJSVEN  PINEB   UTD  THS  8SVX1T  DAT&         7* 

force  which  suffered  from  these  features  of  the  ter- 
«*ain. 

The  writer  of  this  page  had  been  familiar  with  thil 
xocality  from  his  youth.  He  thought  he  knew  it  well 
!>efore  the  war;  but,  after  June  27,  1862,  he  felt  he 
had  nothing  more  to  learn. 

Fancy  a  rolling  country  of  fields,  woods,  water 
courses  ;  and,  along  the  margins  of  these  water-courses, 
swainps  overgrown  with  brushwood,  flags,  arid  marsh- 
grass —  an  actual  jungle.  You  place  the  foot  on  firm 
earth  apparently, — it  sinks.  You  step  upon  a  pros 
trate  log, —  it  turns.  You  try  to  advance, —  ooze,  slush, 
brambles,  and  "  jungle  "  are  before  you. 

Through  this  swampy  undergrowth,  the  haunt  of 
the  owl,  the  whippoorwill,  and  the  moccasin,  the  men 
of  Jackson,  Hill,  and  Hood,  charged  triple  lines  of 
Federal  breastworks. 

Where  the  swamp  ended,  the  slopes  appeared, — 
slopes  bare  of  trees,  and  swept  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  as  a  broom  sweeps  a  floor,  by  the  shell  or  canis 
ter  of  artillery  posted  on  the  crests. 

Across  these  slopes,  the  Confederate  lines  advanced 
to  storm  the  defences  of  Gen.  McClellan. 

Near  Games'  Mill,  and  a  little  lower  down,  the 
ground  often  rises  into  abrupt  ridges;,  flanked  by  deep 
ravines,  which  afford  a  fatal  advantage  to  sharp 
shooters. 

It  was  upon  a  ridge  of  this  description,  behinu 
Powhite  Creek, —  that  is  to  say,  behind  open  slope, 
fiwampy  undergrowth,  and  sheltering  ravine, —  that 
McClellan  had  erected  his  triple  tiers  of  earthworks, 


76         SEVEN  P1NE8  AND  THE  8SVEN  DATS. 

defended  by  a*)attis,  crammed  with  infantry,  md  brist 
ling  with  cannon. 

Behind  this  impenetrable  armor  the  great  Federal 
gladiator  awaited  the  assault  of  the  opponent,  whose 
skill  and  courage  no  one  knew  better  than  himself. 

The  assault  began  between  the  hours  of  two  and 
three  on  a  cloudless  day  of  June, — one  of  those  after 
noons  when  the  face  of  nature  seems  to  be  wrapped  in 
calm  repose,  and  the  very  birds  appear  to  slumber. 
The  dying  on  that  day  were,  at  least,  to  see  the  bine 
sky  bending  over  them,  and  the  sunlight  glittering  c  n 
the  woods  and  streams  as  they  passed  away. 

A.  P.  Hill,  pressing  forward  to  the  two  or  three 
cabins  called  New  Cold  Harbor,  threw  himself  upon 
the  Federal  forces  posted  near  that  place,  and  soon 
the  battle  began  to  rage  with  fury. 

The  style  of  the  late  "  war  correspondents "  in  the 
journals  will  net  be  adopted  by  the  present  writer, 
here  or  elsewhere.  It  is  easy  to  pile  up  adjectives, 
and  invent  the  curious  phenomena  of  "  iron  hail," 
"  leaden  storms,"  "  tempests  of  projectiles,"  and  "  hur 
ricanes  of  canister,  mowing  down  whole  ranks."  Bat 
tle  is  a  stern,  not  a  poetical  affair;  the  genius  of 
conflict  a  huge,  dirty,  bloody,  and  very  hideous  figure, 
— not  a  melodramatic  actor,  spouting  a  part.  Smoke, 
uproar,  blood,  groans,  cheers,  and  the  cries  of  the  dy 
ing  enter  into  war  ;  but  these  are  as  small  a  portion  of 
the  real  subject  as  the  "  iron  hail,"  or  the  "  leaden 
storms."  Lee's  plans,  and  the  manner  in  which  his 
lieutenants  carried  them  out,  are  more  rational  subjects 
of  interest  than  the  roar  of  the  artillery  or  the  grram 
of  the  wounded. 


PINE8  A.VD  THB  SEVEN  D^TB.          77 


Hill  cliarged  the  enemy's  breastworks,  swept  over 
the  first  and  second  lines,  reached  the  third  on  the 
summit  of  the  ridge,  stormed  that,  too,  with  the  bay 
onet,  —  from  the  heights  above  the  woods  resounded 
the  Confederate  cheers  of  victory. 

They  were  not  uttered  a  second  time  ;  the  men  who 
uttered  them  were  at  the  next  moment  either  driven 
back  into  the  ravine,  or  had  passed  to  eternity.  The 
enemy  had  made  a  vigorous  charge,  regained  their 
works,  and,  advancing  in  their  turn,  drove  the  little 
force  of  Hill,  about  eight  thousand  men,  steadily  back 
upon  New  Cold  Harbor. 

The  struggle  now  became  more  desperate  and  bloody 
than  before.  Hill  was  a  true  heart  of  oak  ;  no  human 
soul  was  ever  braver  than  this  slender  Virginian,  in 
his  plain  uniform,  his  old  slouch  hat,  and  with  his 
amiable  smile.  He  never  shrunk  to  the  end  of  the 
drama  any  more  than  there  in  the  first  act  —  peace  to 
that  brave  ! 

For  an  hour  after  the  successful  assault  upon  the 
federal  works,  Hill  continued  to  hold  his  ground  near 
New  Cold  llarbor,  in  spite  of  determined  attacks,  and 
heavy  loss  ;  but  then  it  became  evident  that  succor 
must  be  sent  him,  or  he  would  be  swept  away.  With 
him  Luc's  centre  would  disappear  ;  his  wings  would 
be  divided  ;  then  good-bye  to  Longstreet  —  perhaps  to 
Jackson. 

Lee  acted  with  decision.  Longstreet  was  ordered  to 
<oake  a  feint  against  the  Federal  left,  upon  the  high 
rvige  in  his  front,  and  this  he  proceeded  to  do,  with 
that  steady  vigor  which  procured  for  him  from  Lee 
the  name  of  "  The  Old  War-horse."  His  men  ad- 


T8      savnif  pnnss  AFD  THIS  SSVSN  LAT& 

vanced  iu  face  of  a  destructive  fire  of  artillery  trom 
the  front,  and  the  Federal  guns  beyond  the  stream; 
the  feint  was  made,  and  the  enemy  did  not  move, 
TV. en  Longstrcet,  as  always,  assumed  the  responsibility 
of  acting  according  to  his  judgment,  when  a  new 
phase  was  presented  by  events.  lie  turned  the  feint 
into  an  attack ;  his  men  threw  themselves  with  obsti 
nate  courage  against  the  enemy's  works,  and  the  battle 
began  to  rage  more  furiously  than  ever. 

For  more  than  another  hour  Longstreet  and  Hill 
held  their  ground  in  front  of  McClellan,  receiving  the 
attack  of  a  force  amounting  to  about  seventy  thousand. 
The  two  divisions  opposed  to  this  force  numbered 
aoout  thirty  thousand.  Add  the  fact  that  the  seventy 
thousan-J  were  behind  works,  the  Confederates  in  opeL 
field,  and  the  proportion  will  be  really  four  to  one. 

The  one  fought  the  four  until  nearly  five  o'clock, 
dying  where  they  fell,  torn  to  pieces  by  artillery,  01 
riddled  with  musketry,  without  a  murmur.  Men  never 
fought  better,  or  died  more  bravely.  The  two  com 
mands  were  slowly  being  destroyed — it  was  merely  « 
question  of  time — but  they  did  not  shrink  or  avoid 
the  work. 

It  was  at  this  moment,  when  every  heart  began  to 
face  the  conviction  that  defeat  and  dea'h  awaited 
them,  that  the  long  roll  of  musketry  and  the  thunder 
of  artillery  resounded  from  the  woods  in  the  direction 
of  Old  Cold  Harbor  house.  At  that  sound  every  hear1 
throbbed,  every  face  flushed.  Fierce  cheers  ran  along 
the  decimated  lines  of  Hill  and  the  regiments  of  Long- 
street,  holding  their  ground  obstinately.  "  Jackson  ! 
Jackson  1"  rose  in  a  shout  so  wild  and  triumphant. 


SSVEJS  °INE&    xJFD  THE  BE  PEN  DA  Y£  TV 

it  rolled  across  the  woods,  and  reached  the  ears  cl 
the  Federal  army. 

It  was  truly  Jackson  who  arrived — the  Deiw  en 
machina — and  General  Lee,  who  had  awaited  that 
welcome  sound,  spurred  forward  and  met  liis  great 
associate. 

The  spectacle  was  interesting — the  contrast  between 
he  two  illustrious  soldiers  very  striking.  Jackson  was 
riding  a  raw-boned  sorrel,  with  his  knees  drawn  up  by 
the  short  stirrups,  his  eyes  peering  out  from  beneath 
the  low  rim  of  his  faded  cap ;  there  was  absolutely 
nothing  about  him,  save  the  dingy  stars  on  his  collar, 
to  indicate  his  rank.  Lee,  on  the  contrary,  was  clad 
in  a  neat  uniform,  with  decorations  —  rode  an  excel 
lent  and  carefully-groomed  horse,  and  every  detail  of 
his  person,  every  movement  of  the  erect  and  graceful 
figure  of  the  most  stately  cavalier  in  the  Southern 
army,  revealed  his  elevated  character,  the  conscious 
ness  of  command,  a  species  of  moral  and  "  official " 
grandeur  both,  which  it  was  impossible  to  mistake. 
The  Almighty  had  made  both  these  human  beinga 
trulj  great;  to  only  one  of  them  had  He  given  the 
additional  grace  of  looking  great. 

"  Ah,  General ! "  said  Lee,  grasping  Jackson's  hand, 
"  J  am  very  glad  to  see  you ;  1  had  hoped  to  have  been 
with  you  before." 

Jackson  saluted,  and  returned  the  pressure  of  that 
liand,  of  whose  owner  he  said,  "  He  is  a  phenomenon  ; 
he  is  the  only  man  i  would  follow  blindfold ! " 

Gen.  Lee  then  looked  with  anxiety  in  the  iiroction 
of  the  firing  on  the  left. 


80         SEVEN  PINES  A2TL    HDS  SEVXN  DATS. 

"  That  fire  is  very  heavy,"  he  said,  in  Ins  deep,  YOU  a; 
w  do  you  think  your  men  can  stand  it,  General  ? " 

Jackson  turned  his  head  quickly,  listened  for  an  in« 
etant,  and  then  replied  in  the  curt  tones  BO  familiar  to 
all  who  knew  him : 

"They  can  stand  almost  anything,  Genera].  They 
*A!i  stand  that !  " 

Ten  minutes  after  uttering  these  words,  Jackson 
saluted  his  commander,  put  spur  to  his  raw-boned 
horse,  and  went  at  full  speed  to  rejoin  his  corps,  which 
in  his  own  words,  had  "  closed  in  upon  the  front  and 
rear  of  the  enemy,  and  was  pressing  forward." 

Lee  remained  at  the  centre.  There  he  was  ready  to 
deliver  his  great  blow. 

It  came  without  delay,  and  was  struck  at  the  heart. 
Recoiling  from  the  heavy  pressure  of  Jackson  on  his 
right,  McClellan  threw  that  wing  of  his  army  a  little 
to  the  rear,  to  avoid  being  flanked,  and  then,  concen 
trating  his  best  troops  upon  the  commanding  ridgf, 
near  McGhee's  house,  received  the  Confederate  assault 
with  sullen  courage. 

That  assault  was  resolute,  desperate,  of  unfaltering 
obstinacy.  To  carry  the  formidable  position  which  the 
Federal  forces  occupied,  the  heaviest  fighting  was  a 
necessity;  this  ponderous  obstacle  could  only  be  re 
moved  by  gigantic  blows :  the  hammer  might  be  shat 
tered,  but  it  must  strike  until  it  broke  in  the  hand  of 
him  who  wielded  it.  Closing  up  his  lines  as  the  regi 
ments  grew  thinner,  Lee  presented  to  the  enemy,  at 
live  in  the  evening,  an  unbroken  front,  with  Longstrect 
clinging,  with  teeth  and  claws,  to  the  ground  on  the 
right,  A.  P.  Hill's  decimated  division  fighting  in  tht 


PINE8  AND  THE  SEVEN  DATS. 


aentre,  and  Jackson  sweeping  forward   through  the 
woods  and  swamps  upon  the  left. 

From  this  moment  the  interest  of  the  battle  of  Cold 
Harbor  concentrates  upon  the  movements  of  Jackson, 
Hill  was  worn  out  by  his  long  and  tremendous  stnig 
gle  ;  Longstreet  was  reeling  under  the  enormous  blowt 
dealt  at  him  ;  Jackson  was  fresh,  "  in  full  feather,'' 
and  steadily  advancing. 

Let  us  pass  to  that  portion  of  the  field,  and  look  at 
the  man  of  Port  Republic  and  his  veterans.  To  see 
them  fighting  in  old  days  was  a  splendid  spectacle  ;  to 
recall  their  combats  is,  even  now,  a  thing  to  make  the 
pulses  throb. 

Jackson's  corps  had  gone  in.  The  sinking  sun  was 
almost  hidden  by  the  lurid  smoke  which  rose  from  the 
woods  ;  the  ears  were  deafened  by  the  streaming  vol 
leys  of  musketry  and  the  thunder  of  artillery.  Jack 
son  was  riding  to  and  fro  in  the  fields  around  Cold 
Harbor,  silent,  abstracted,  glancing  quickly  at  you  if 
you  spoke  to  him,  and  sucking  a  lemon. 

A  staff  officer  gallops  up,  and  salutes  the  plain- 
looking  soldier. 

"Gen.  Hood  directs  me  to  say,  General,  that  hia 
line  is  enfiladed  by  a  battery  of  thirty-pound  Parrotte, 
which  are  decimating  his  men,  and  making  it  impos 
sible  for  him  to  advance  !  " 

Jackson  rises  in  his  stirrups  and  beckons  to  an 
officer,  who  hastens  up,  saluting. 

"  Go  back  and  get  fifteen  or  eighteen  guns,"  he  saye 
to  the  latter,  "attack  that  battery,  and  see  that  the 
enemy's  guns  are  either  silenced  or  destroyed." 

officer  gallopfl  off,  and  in  twenty  minutes  a 


82         SEVEN  PINE*  AND  THE    -.EVES  DATS. 

tremendous  roar  is  heard  from  thr  left ;  a  furious  dnel 
between  nearly  fifty  pieces  of  artillery,  all  apparently 
firing  at  the  same  moment,  takes  place  ;  then  the  Fed- 
oral  tire  slackens,  and  from  the  woods  arise  wild  cheers 
as  Hood's  men  charge. 

Half  an  hour  then  passes.  Jackson  is  riding  to  and 
fro,  still  abstracted,  and  sticking  his  lemon,  when  a 
second  oificer  hastens  up,  and  reports  that  D.  H.  Hill 
is  hard  pressed,  and  must  have  reinforcements. 

"  Where  is  the  Stonewall  Brigade  ? "  Jackson  asks, 
abruptly. 

'l  Behind  that  hill,  General,"  says  a  member  of  hie 
staff,  pointing  to  a  clump  of  woods. 

"Order  it  to  advance  to  the  support  of  Genera?. 
Hill." 

The  officer  disappears  at  a  gallop  in  the  woods ;  five 
minutes  afterwards  a  line  of  glittering  bayonets  emerges 
from  the  copse.  Above  them  flutters  the  bullet-riddled 


Jackson's  eye  flashes  at  them  from  beneath  his  faded 
cap. 

"  Good !  "  he  says,  in  his  quick  tones ;  "  we  will  have 
good  news  in  a  few  minutes  now  1 " 

The  old  brigade  passes  over  the  wide  field,  plunges 
into  the  wood  in  front;  then  a  long,  steady  roar  of 
musketry  is  heard.  Hill  is  reinforced,  and  can  press 
on. 

From  this  time  the  battle  is  no  longer  a  conflict  of 
human  beings,  but  a  mortal  grapple  of  wild  beasts. 
An  incredible  bitterness  seems  to  inspire  the  oppo 
nents  ;  in  spite  of  the  desperate  attack  of  the  South 


BBVEN  PINEB  AND  TRS  BBVEN  VAY&          M 

erners.  the  Federal  lines  still  hold  their  grour  d  w  ith 
splendid  gallantry,  not  receding  an  inch. 

Jackson  is  looking  toward  the  front,  and  listening 
in  silence  to  Stuart,  whose  cavalry  is  drawn  np  on  'he 
left,  when  a  messenger  arrives  from  Ewell. 

"  General  Ewell  directs  me  to  say,  sir,  that  the  eueiuj 
do  not  give  way  in  his  front." 

Jackson  rose  in  his  saddle ;  his  eye  blazed ;  extend 
ing  the  hand  in  which  he  held  the  lemon,  he  replied : 

"  Tell  Gen.  Ewell,  if  they  stand  at  sunset,  to  press 
them  with  the  bayonet ! " 

The  words  were  jerked  from  the  lips,  rather  than 
spoken.  They  made  the  heart  of  one  listener  beat. 

Ewell  charged,  Hood  charged,  the  whole  Southern 
Army  swept  forward,  as  though  the  low  words  of 
Jackson  had  been  breathed  in  every  ear. 

In  front  of  Hood  was  a  tangled  swamp,  an  almost 
impenetrable  thicket,  and  a  ditch  apparently  impassa 
ble —  beyond  was  a  high  hill  bristling  with  cannon, 
vomiting  shell  and  canister.  Ilood  rushed  in  front  of 
his  Texans. 

"  Forward !  quick  march ! "  was  his  order. 

The  line  swept  forward  in  the  midst  of  an  appalling 
fire,  leaving  the  ground  littered  with  dead  and  dying, 
—  among  the  former  was  Col.  Marshall,  one  of  tLe 
best  officers  of  the  Fourth  Texas. 

"  Close  up !  close  up  to  the  colors ! "  came  from  the 
lips  of  Hood. 

The  line  closed  up,  broke  through  the  swamp,  cleared 
the  ditch,  and  rushed  up  the  hill,  in  face  of  the  mur 
derous  fire  of  the  Federal  guns. 


84          tUCYEN  PINKS  AND   THE  MIVEN  D^fS. 

"  Forward ! "  shouted  Hood, "  forward !  charge  n^iil 
on  them,  and  drive  them  with  the  bayonet ! " 

Bayonets  were  fixed,  as  the  men  rushed  forward' 
they  charged  the  breastworks  in  their  path ;  the  enemj 
gav2  way  and  fled ;  the  flag  of  the  Texans  was  placed 
upon  the  works  which  crowned  the  hill,  and  then  arose 
a  shout  which  made  the  forest  ring.  "  Right  and  left," 
says  an  eye-witness  of  the  scene, "  it  was  taken  up  and 
ran  along  the  line  for  miles,  k  ng  after  many  of  those 
who  had  started  it  were  in  etenity." 

Hood  had  lost  a  thousand  men,  but  he  had  taken 
fourteen  pieces  of  artillery,  a  regiment  of  prisoners, 
and  had  won  for  his  command  the  right  to  place  upoc 
their  battle-flag  the  words  which  Jackson  uttered  the 
next  day,  on  looking  at  the  ground : 

"The  men  who  carried  this  position  were  soldiers 
indeed!" 

The  sun  had  sunk ;  the  enemy  had  been  "  pressed 
with  the  bayonet ; "  the  Federal  army  were  in  hopelesi 
disorder  and  full  retreat  toward  Grapevine  bridge — 
on  their  way,  that  is,  toward  James  River,  where,  under 
the  port-holes  of  the  Federal  gunboats,  was  the  only 
nope  of  safety. 

The  fields  and  forests  of  New  Kent  were  covered 
with  the  dying  and  the  dead ;  in  the  shadowy  swamps 
apon  which  night  had  descended,  some  of  the  bravest 
gentlemen  of  the  South  were  passing  slowly,  as  their 
blood  flowed,  drop  by  drop,  inio  eternity ;  around  them 
were  the  dead  fathers,  brothers,  sons,  and  husbaids  of 
Southern  children,  sisters,  mothers,  and  wives  —  but  the 
u  Star-Spangled  Banner  "  had  gone  down  in  the  storm, 
and  the  "  Red-Cross  Flag  "  was  floating  still 


SBVXN  PINKS  AND  THE  3EVJSN  DA  T&         it 

Tw(  days  afterwards,  Gen.  McClellan's  disheartened 
furcea  were  undergoing  the  horrirs  of  that  terrible 
retreat  to  tho  James  River.  They  ~,vere  retreating  day 
and  ni.  (lit,  horse,  foot,  and  guns,  with  tho  ft>e  upon  their 
track ;  but  it  was  a  retreat  which  will  remain  forever 
famour  in  history.  In  the  Federal  commander  was 
skill.,  c<  urage,  the  heart  that  does  not  despair.  In  his 
arm>  ^  is  a  nerve  in  face  of  defeat,  and  an  equanimity 
unde."  5  dverse  fortune,  which  are  prouder  glories  for 
the  Ftd  iral  flag  than  the  poor  repulse  of  Lee  at  Gettys 
burg,  01  the  burlesque  "  victory  "  of  Sheridan  with  his 
foi  ty-fh  3  thousand  over  Early  with  his  ten  thousand  at 
OpequcKi. 

At  tli  :>  bridge  in  White  Oak  Swamp,  McClellan  sul 
lenly  ccifronted  Jackson,  and  said  to  that  King  of 
Battle, <!  Halt ! "  And  he  halted. 

At  Fr  izer's  Farm,  the  veterans  of  Longstreet  tried 
to  drive  the  Federal  forces  from  their  ground  —  and 
they  fail  \d. 

At  Mi.lvern  Hill,  Gen.  Lee  made  a  resolute  attack 
npon  the  position  of  McClellan;  threw  the  elite  of 
his  army  on  the  enemy's  line,  in  charge  after  charge 
—  and  at  night  the  obstinate  blue  lines  were  still  un 
broken  :  skill,  courage,  and  obstinacy  in  the  General 
(tnd  his  troops  had  foiled  the  best  soldier  of  the  age. 
it  is  true  that  before  morning,  McClellan  abandoned 
his  position,  and  retreated  to  James  River.  But  that 
was  the  movement  of  a  good  soldier.  Defeated  at 
"  Col  d  Harbor  "  in  a  pitched  battle,  army  against  army, 
he  had  brought  off  his  troops,  repulsed  every  assault, 
cut  his  way  through,  and  was  saved. 

Looking  back  now,  over  ^he  wide  field,  through  the 


86       SSTJSN  rrtfKs  Am  TTIS  EBVRJ? 


lurid  smoke,  let  us  try  to  dis  :over  vhat  the  gigantii 
struggle  meant  —  what  the  result  rea.ly  was. 

One  glance  is  sufficient. 

Gen,  McClellan  had  invaded  Virginia,  and  was  with 
in  five  miles  of  Richmond,  with  one  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  men. 

On  the  25th  of  June,  he  was  about  to  advance,  and 
fully  believed  that  the  city  would  fall.  On  the  2d  of 
July,  he  was  tllirty  miles  distant  from  it,  seeking  shelter 
under  the  gunboats  on  James  River. 

He  had  lost  a  great  battle  ;  an  appalling  number  of 
his  men  ;  a  large  part  of  his  artillery  ;  thousands  of 
small  arms  ;  twenty-five  miles  of  country,  and  liis  he?d 
was  about  to  fall. 

To  the  candid  observer  this  meant  decisive  defeat. 
It  is  certain  that  the  world  thought  so  —  and  the  most 
penetrating  military  mind  in  the  Southern  army  was  in 
favour  of  prompt  action,  upon  that  theory. 

One  day,  after  Malvern  Ilill,  while  conversing  with 
a  friend  in  his  tent,  Jackson  rose  from  his  camp  couch, 
struck  the  pillow  with  sudden  violence,  and  exclaimed  : 

"  Why  don't  we  advance  ?  Now  is  the  time  for  an 
advance  into  Pennsylvania  !  McClellan  is  paralyzed, 
and  the  Scipio  Africanus  jolicy  is  the  best!  Let  the 
President  only  give  me  the  men,  and  I  will  undertake 
it  Gen.  Lee,  I  believe,  would  go;  but  perhaps  he 
cannot.  People  say  he  is  slow.  Gen.  Lee  is  not 
slow.  No  one  knows  the  weight  upon  his  heart  —  hia 
great  responsibilities.  1  have  known  Gen.  Lee  for 
five-and-twenty  years  —  he  is  cautious  ;  he  ought  to  be. 
But  he  is  not  *  slow.'  Lee  is  a  phenomenon  ;  he  is  tha 
only  man  whom  I  would  follow  blindfold  I  " 


8SVSN  PINES  AlfD  THE  SEVEN  DATS.          It 

Why  was  not  this  policy  adopted  ?  The  reply  to  thai 
question  will  be  disinterred,  probably,  some  day,  from 
the  depths  of  the  Department  of  "  Rebel  Archives  "  at 
Washington. 

A  month  afterwards  it  was  seen  that  Jackson  was 
right.  That "  erratic  "  individual  had,  as  usual,  arrived 
at  the  solution  of  the  problem  by  "  good  luck  "  —  not 
brains.  This  of  course. 

Pope  was  in  Culpeper,  plundering  and  burning; 
McClellan  was  decapitated  —  it  was  necessary  to  go 
and  fight  Pope's  "  Army  of  Virginia ; "  the  battle  took 
place ;  then,  dragged  by  the  current  of  events,  tho 
Confederate  authorities  advanced  to  Maryland. 

But  the  golden  moment  had  passed  away.  In  July 
the  Scipio  Africanus  policy  was  tho  best — in  Septem 
ber  it  was  the  worst.  The  soldier  who  had  retreated 
before  Lee  from  Cold  llarbor,  again  appeared  in  his 
front,  joined  battle  at  Sharpcburg,  and  Lee  was  com 
piled  to  retreat  in  turn. 

In  the  fall  of  1864,  the  present  writer  revisited  the 
country  around  Cold  Harbor,  and  looked  with  interest 
upon  the  localities  where  the  gigantic  struggle  had 
taken  place  in  June,  1862.  After  that  time,  he  had 
not  again  seen  the  ground,  not  even  when  the  wave  of 
war  bore  him  thither  in  June,  1864;  for  then  Gen. 
Grant  had  taken  a  fancy  to  the  neighborhood,  and  his 
heavy  earthworks  barred  the  way. 

In  that  autumn  preceding  the  downfall  of  the 
Confederacy,  the  appearance  of  the  battle-field  was 
bleak,  sombre,  and  had  a  dolorous  effect  upon  the 
feelings.  There  was  the  old  Cold  Ilarbc  r  House,  torn 
and  dismantled,  near  which  "the  gallant  Pelham"  bad 


M         8BVEN  PINE8  .UTD  TOE  SEVEN  DATS. 

been  greeted  by  Jackson  as  he  came  back  from  hia 
guns — where  was  Pelham? 

There  was  the  knoll  where  Jacksou  and  Stnart  rode 
between  the  guns  at  nightfall ;  there  was  the  solitary 
oak,  torn  now  by  cannon  balls,  under  which  they 
had  conversed  that  night — where  were  Jackson  and 
Stuart? 

Dead — Pelham  at  Kelly's  ford;  Jackson  at  Chan- 
celloreville ;  Stuart  at  Yellow  Tavern. 

These  immortals,  whose  hands  I  had  touched,  whose 
voices  I  had  listened  to,  whose  smile  had  greeted  me, 
had  gone  down  in  the  bloody  gulf  of  battle,  to  appear 
no  more;  but  their  eyes  still  shone,  their  words  still 
resounded,  their  figures  still  moved  amid  the  bleak 
and  melancholy  fields  around  Cold  Harbor. 

They  were  there  on  the  27th  cf  June,  1862 — and 
*re  then  forever! 


rr. 


1KB  BKOOND 


u  This  week  is  the  crisis  of  our  fate? 

Does  the  reader  remember  when  and  by  whom 
these  words  were  written? 

If  they  greet  his  eyes  for  the  first  time  to-day,  and 
his  sympathies  be  anti-Southern,  he  will  say,  perhaps  : 

"Johnston  or  Beaureguard  wrote  thus  from  Bull 
Rim  in  July,  1861  —  Jackson  from  Port  Republic  in 
June,  1862—  or  Lee  from  Gettysburg  in  1863." 

On  the  contrary,  it  was  McClellan,  who  penned  that 
brief  and  pithy  dispatch  from  Alexandria  on  the  1st 
day  of  September,  1862,  wheii  the  disorganized  bat- 
tallions  of  Maj.  Gen.  Pope  were  hastening  towards 
the  protecting  defences  of  Washington. 

To-day  the  world  knows  that  his  fears  were  well 
founded.  Never  had  the  day  looked  darker  for  the 
Federal  cause  than  then.  Never  had  the  overthrow  of 
the  Confederacy  seemed  so  hopeless.  Worse  still  —  a 
great  and  real  danger  menaced  the  Federal  seat  of 
government.  The  authorities  trembled  in  their  bu 
reaux;  each  moment  they  expected  to  see  the  red 
battle-flag  of  Lee  upon  the  Arlington  hills,  each  in 
stant  to  hear  the  tramp  of  his  legions  under  the  waTli 
of  the  Capitol, 

m 


tO  TBS  SECOND  JIANAJS&A& 

Throughout  the  three  preceding  days  they  had  heard 
the  long,  continuous  roar  of  cannon  fi\  in  the  fields  of 
Prince  William.  Every  hour  great  parties  of  strag 
glers  had  made  their  appearance  opposite  Chain  Ef  idgB. 
Every  moment,  almost,  until  the  wires  no  longer  worked, 
depressing  telegrams  had  come  from  the  army  of  Gen. 
Pope1  and  each  one  was  more  disheartening  *hau  the 
last.  All  knew  that  a  great  battle  had  been  fought 
again  on  the  bleak  plains  dotted  with  pine-trees,  oppo 
site  the  weird  Stone  Bridge ;  that  the  fields  of  Alanafe- 
eas,  already  crowded  with  dead,  had  become  the 
charnel  house  of  other  thousands — that  the  shadows 
there  had  depeened,  the  spot  become  trebly  cursed 
again  by  blood  and  destruction.  The  result  of  that 
three  days'  roar  of  cannon  and  rattle  of  musketry  waa 
the  pithy  telegram  which  is  given  above : 

"  This  week  is  the  crisis  of  our  fate." 

Now,  what  were  the  events  which  rolled  the  great 
wave  of  battle  once  more  to  the  shores  of  Bull  Run, 
adding  a  new  and  more  tragic  interest  to  the  sombre 
hills  and  ravines  of  this  historic  spot?  The  fifth  act 
of  a  tragedy  is  badly  understood  without  a  knowledge 
cf  the  acts  which  precede  it.  In  rapidly  tracing  these, 
time  will  not  be  lost,  nor  is  it  the  amusememt  of  the 
reader  which  we  aim  at.  The  truth  of  the  Virginia 
campaigns  has  been  buried  beneath  great  tomes  full  of 
falsehood — beneath  enormous  party  pamphlets  like 
the  "  Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Conduct  of  the 
V7ar,"  where  every  grain  of  wheat  is  hidden  by  a 
busha  of  chaff — where,  consequently,  it  is  cliiefly 
ehaff  on  which  the  reader  feeds.  Chaff  is  not  a  whole* 


THE  tiEOOND  XANABBA&  91 

some  diet.    To  those  who  prefer  the  wheat  cf  truth, 
these  sketches  are  addressed. 

What  had  occurred  in  that  month  cf  August,  1862, 
was  this: 

Defeated  before  Richmond,  Gen.  McClellan  had 
drawn  upon  his  devoted  head  the  thunder  and  light 
ning  of  the  Federal  displeasure.  The  world  said  that 
the  hapless  issue  there,  resulted  from  the  general 
ship  of  Lee,  and  the  fighting  qualities  ol  his  troops. 
Gen.  Halleck  said  that  it  resulted  from  the  incapacity 
of  McClellan.  In  vain  did  Gen.  McClellan  •'  pro 
pose  to  cross  James  River  at  that  point,"  Ilarrison's 
Landing,  "  attack  Petersburg,  and  cut  off  the  enemy's 
communication  by  that  route  South"  which  plan, 
when  Gen.  Grant  adopted  it,  was  greeted  with  ho- 
sannahs.  What  was  thus  approved  in  1864,  was  con 
temptuously  scouted  in  1862 — McClellan  suggested  it, 
not  Grant — and  the  record  remains.  Gen.  Halleck 
"  stated  to  him  very  frankly  my  views  in  regard  to  the 
danger  and  impracticability  of  the  plan;"*  he  was 
not  allowed  to  carry  out  his  "  impracticable  '3  scheme ; 
more  still,  he  was  summoned  to  Washington,  shelved 
there,  and  his  forces  were  assigned  to  General  Pope, 
then  bent  upon  a  great  advance  toward  the  Rapidan. 

Gen.  Pope  arrived  at  his  head-quarters  in  a  car 
decked  out  with  flags ;  stated,  it  is  said,  that  hitherto 
ho  had  seen  nothing  of  his  enemies  "  but  their  backs ;  * 
and  issued  an  order  to  the  army  in  which  he  said :  "  Let 
ua  study  the  probable  line  of  retreat  of  our  opponents, 
uid  leave  our  own  to  take  care  of  itself.  Let  us  look 

•  Conduct  of  W«.     P«rtl,46i. 


92  THE  SECOND  MANA&1A& 

before  and  not  behind.    Disaster  and  shame  lurk  in 
the  rear." 

The  sequel,  as  the  reader  will  perceive,  was  the  most 
grotesque  of  commentaries  on  the  General's  military 
theory.  It  was  on  his  "line  of  retreat"  that  Jackson 
struck  the  mortal  blow  at  him. 

Gen.  Pope  thus  bade  defiance  to  military  science 
and  fate,  and  it  connot  be  said  that  he  conciliated  the 
smiles  of  Providence,  the  All-Merciful,  who  watches 
over  the  helpless.  Culpeper  County  was  desolated 
with  fire  and  sword.  When  the  Federal  troops  re 
treated,  it  was  one  great  waste,  full  of  homeless  aud 
starving  women  and  children,  whose  cries  went  up  to 
God.  But  let  that  pass.  The  first  blow  struck  by 
Gen.  Pope  was  not  fortunate.  lie  delivered  battle 
at  Cedar  Mountain,  where,  on  the  9th  of  August,  on  a 
lovely  afternoon,  he  was  defeated  by  Jackson.  The 
fight  was  obstinate,  and  the  field  covered  with  dead ; 
but  the  August  moon,  bathing  the  slopes  of  Slaughter 
Mountain,  saw  the  Southern  banner  floating  on  the  bat 
tie-field,  and  the  Federal  forces  hastening  back  toward 
Culpeper  Court  House,  pursued  by  Jackson. 

This  battle,  Gen.  Pope  said  afterwards,  was  lost 
by  Gen.  Banks,  in  consequence  of  his  disobedience 
of  orders.  That  General  denied  the  charge,  and 
brought  a  "railing  accusation"  against  Gen.  Pope, 
of  incapacity,  and  indisposition  to  venture  on  the  field 
of  battle.  The  record  does  not  make  the  truth  appar 
cnt,  for  the  clearest  issue  of  veracity  is  involved  re 
lating  to  the  orders. 

Cedar  Run  was  a  defeat  of  the  Federal  forces,  sine* 
shey  retired;  Jackson  followed,  and  two  days  after 


TEE  SECOND  MAJfASSAA  W 

wards  Gen.  Pope  requested  permission  to  bnry  his 
dead.  But  heavy  Federal  reserves  were  behind,  Jack 
son's  force  was  small,  and  he  retreated  behind  the 
Rapidan. 

The  Federal  design  was  now  developed.  They  had 
abandoned  all  further  efforts  to  take  Richmond  from 
below,  and  had  concentrated  north  of  the  Rappahan- 
Liock.  Gen.  Lee  accordingly  put  his  main  body  in 
motion ;  advanced  to  the  Rapidan,  crossed  the  river, 
and  streamed  forward  to  cut  off  his  opponents  from 
the  Rappahannock —  a  movement  which  induced  them 
to  fall  back  with  rapidity,  and  take  up  a  position  on 
the  northern  margin  of  the  stream. 

Such  was  the  first  illustration  of  the  Federal  Gen 
eral's  theory  in  reference  to  lines  of  retreat.  That  dis 
aster  lurked  in  the  rear  was  now  to  receive  a  proof 
more  emphatic. 

Before  crossing  the  Rapidan,  Gen.  Stuart,  command 
ing  the  cavalry  of  the  Longstreet  army,  had  met  with 
a  vexatious  mishap.  He  had  ordered  one  of  his  brig 
ades  to  rendezvous  at  the  little  village  of  Verdiersville 
—  had  gone  thither  with  his  staff,  and  omitting,  as 
usual,  every  precaution  looking  to  his  personal  safety, 
had  lain  down  on  the  porch  of  a  small  house  in  the 
village,  where  he  slept  unguarded  even  by  a  single 
vidette.  The  consequence  was  that  a  Federal  cavalry 
regiment,  prowling  around,  surprised  him  just  at  dawn; 
he  was  forced  to  leap  on  horseback  and  jump  the  fence 
to  escape — and  so  hasty  was  tlis  movement,  the  enemy 
being  close  upon  him,  that  he  left  behind  him  his  hat 
and  cape,  which  they  bore  off  !n  triumph,  to  the  great 
disgust  of  the  gay  cavalier. 


TEA  BbJO*,/) 


Verdiersville  was  thus  a  spot  where  Stuart  had  rwg 
istered  a  laughing  oath  of  vengeance.  lie  was  no\* 
about  to  fulfill  it  with  a  "poetic  just'se"  seldom  met 
with  outside  of  the  covers  of  a  romance. 

Gen.  Pope  had  retreated  beyond  the  Rappahann.>ck, 
where  he  thundered  at  every  ford  with  his  immerom 
artillery,  and  an  attack  in  front  was  evidently  injudi 
cious,  if  not  impracticable.  To  flank  him  was  evidently 
the  most  judicious  course,  and  to  cut  his  communica 
tions  would  seriously  cripple  him.  Stuart  set  out  with 
his  cavalry  to  cut  them. 

In  the  midst  of  night  and  storm,  he  struck  the 
Orange  railroad  at  Catletts  ;  charged  pell-mell  into  the 
Federal  camps  ;  threw  everything  into  enormous  con 
fusion,  and  ransacked  the  whole  place.  A  singulai 
chance  had  directed  him.  Catletts  was  Gen.  Pope'e 
head-quarters,  but  he  was  either  absent  or  managed  tc 
escape.  He,  however,  left  behind  him  his  most  private 
official  papers,  and  his  personal  effects,  including  his 
uniform  coat.  These  were  borne  off  by  Stuart  anc 
safely  brought  back. 

The  papers  contained  the  fullest  statement  of  Gen. 
Pope's  forces,  position,  designs  ;  his  hopes,  fears,  aU 
that  should  be  guarded,  under  triple  steel,  from  an 
adversary.  If  Gen.  Lee  had  determined  upon  ilie 
great  flank  movement  which  followed,  these  papers 
confirmed  hia  intention.  If  he  had  not,  they  decided 
him. 

Stuart  returned  laughing  to  his  quarters.  On  the 
way  he  met  Gen.  Jackson. 

"Here  is  Pope's  coat,  General,"  he  said,  holding  it 


TEX  BSOONT)  MANASSA&  §5 

up ;  "  if  he  will  send  me  back  my  hat,  I  will  stnd  Mm 
back  his  coat." 

Jackson  smiled,  as  he  always  did,  when  he  heard  the 
laughing  accents  of  that  brave  voice.  Then  he  be- 
etm$  thoughtf ul  again ;  he  was  developing  in  hia 
profound  intellect  the  details  of  the  great  blow  which, 
in  obedience  to  the  orders  of  Lee,  he  was  about  tc 
deliver. 

The  design  of  Lee  was  more  than  daring,  it  was  cor 
rect.  Absurdest  of  the  absurd  is  that  philosophy  of 
irar  which,  ignorantly  pointing  to  Caesar  and  Napoleon 
AS  examples,  erects  adaucity  above  science,  and  decries 
«ound  principles  in  warfare.  Examine  the  campaigns 
of  Lee,  the  greatest  living  soldier,  and  his  movements 
everywhere  will  be  found  "  correct."  Place  him  where 
Gen.  Pope  then  was — he  would  never  have  been 
flanked  and  cut  off.  Gen.  Pope's  order  desired  the 
men  to  "  dismiss  from  their  minds  certain  phrasea  — 
lines  of  retreat,  and  bases  of  supply."  His  destruction 
followed. 

Lee's  plan  was  simply  to  send  a  column  of  al*>ut 
twenty  thousand  men  across  the  upper  Rappahannr ck ; 
thence  by  a  rapid  march  to  Thoroughfare  Gap ;  and 
thence  to  Manassas,  where  Gen.  Pope  had  ettalv 
lished  his  main  depot  of  supplies.  If  the  column  was 
pushed  rapidly,  it  might  arrive  before  Gen.  Pope  - 
Mannassas  would  be  destroyed  —  the  Federal  army 
starved  —  Lee  would  follow,  and  thus  the  Southern 
army  would  be  concentrated  on  the  enemy's  line  ot 
retn>at — starving,  faint,  disheartened,  they  would  find 
ui  thoir  pp-th,  strongly  posted  to  receive  them,  the  vet 


W  THB  BSOOND  MAJTAJ38AA 

eran  Iwiyonets  of  Jackson  and  Longstreet,  isld  in  the 
firm  grasp  of  Lee. 

To  command  the  advance  corps,  Jackson  was  se 
lected  —  that  great  "  right  arm "  whose  loss  Lee  la 
mented  so  bitterly  after  Chancelloreville.  The  peculiai 
trait  of  Jackson  as  a  soldier  was  that  he  always  ai  rived 
in  time.  Others  failed  often — he  never  did.  lie  moved 
with  the  mathematical  accuracy  of  a  macliine.  If  he 
undertook  to  arrive,  he  arrived,  if  not  with  his  whole 
force,  with  a  part  of  it.  Those  broken  down  would 
probably  catch  up  —  meanwhile,  he  attacked.  For 
great  examples,  take  Kernstown,  McDowell,  and 
Sharpsburg. 

Jackson  put  his  column  in  motion  up  the  river,  and 
from  that  moment  advanced  like  an  avenging  fate  — 
never  pausing,  allowing  nothing  to  affect  his  fixed  pur 
pose.  Before  the  most  rapid  vidette  could  bear  the 
news  to  Gen.  Pope,  he  had  dragged  his  artillery 
across  the  narrow,  rock-ribbed,  and  forgotten  ford  at 
Hinson's ;  pressed  on  to  Orleans ;  and  was  head 
ing  straight  for  Thoroughfare.  For  the  time  he 
seemed  to  have  forgotten  the  existence  of  roads.  The 
column  moved  apparently  on  the  theory  that  where 
two  men  can  place  their  feet,  an  army  can  pass.  When 
they  came  to  fences,  they  threw  them  down ;  when 
they  met  with  streams,  they  waded.  Jackson  thug  ad 
vanced,  an  eye-witness  says,  "across  open  fields,  by 
strange  country  roads,  and  comfortable  homesteads, 
on  and  on,  as  if  he  would  never  cease."  It  was  the 
u  bee  line  "  that  he  was  taUng.  When  the  Confeder 
ates  were  marching  over  nearly  the  same  ground  in 


TEX  SECOND  MANA38A&  97 

Juno,  1863,  a  soldier  asked  an  old  negr:  rhere  the? 
were  going. 

"  All  right,  Master,"  replied  the  old  man,  smiling 
"  You  are  going  the  same  road  Mas'  Jackson  took  last 
year,  only  he  took  the  nigr/i-cuts" 

At  sunset  on  the  25th  of  August,  the  column  "  mov 
ing  on  briskly  without  a  straggler,"  was  approaching 
Salem.  Jackson  sat  his  horse  with  the  light  of  sun- 
Bet  on  his  bared  forehead  —  for  he  had  taken  off  hia 
old  cap  to  salute  the  men  —  and  his  face  was  lit  up 
with  a  proud  smile.  No  sound  was  heard  but  the 
shuffling  feet  of  the  great  column,  and  the  rolling 
wheels  of  the  artillery  ;  the  men  whispered,  "  Don'1, 
shout,  boys,  the  Yankees  will  hear  us  ; "  for  orders  had 
been  issued  that  music,  cheers,  shouts,  should  all  be 
stopped,  .as  they  were  now  approaching  the  enemy. 

Jackson  had  counted,  nevertheless,  "without  his 
host."  There  was  something  the  men  could  not  do, 
and  that  was  refrain  from  cheering  their  favorite 
For  a  time  they  passed  by  waving  their  hats  in  silent* 
to  the  bare-headed  soldier.  Then  the  stream  broke 
through.  Some  one,  carried  away  at  sight  of  the  old 
faded  uniform,  the  dingy  cap  and  the  familiar  face, 
raised  a  shout  —  -vith  that  the  torrent  burst  forth.  A 
roar,  wild,  thundering,  turimltous,  reverberated  across 
the  fields  and  in  the  forests — and  Jackson  succumbed 
for  that  greeting  stirred  his  soldier-pride  and  con 
vjnercd  him. 

"  You  see  I  can't  stop  thorn  1"  he  said,  turning  to  an 
oflicer.  "  Who  could  fail  to  win  victory  with  those 
men*" 

Strange  confidence,  had  it  not  been  justified  by  ei 


&8  TBS  BSSGONb  MAHAJ38A& 

perience!  "Those  men  "  were  the  veriest  tatter lem* 
lions  who  ever,  with  their  rags,  affronted  the  sunl 
Such  scarecrows  had  never  before  carried  *nu^kflte, 
and  that  implement  alone  established  their  i  laim  !* 
the  title  of  soldiers.  It  is  true  that  their  method 
of  carving  it  removed  all  doubts.  They  were  faint 
half-starved,  weary  unto  death,  and  in  rags  ;  but  thej 
laughed,  and  their  bayonets  were  bright 

It  was  Gen.  Lee  who  said  that  there  was  one  oc 
casion  when  he  was  never  ashamed  of  the  appear 
ance  of  his  soldiers  —  when  they  were  fighting. 

At  dawn  on  the  26th,  after  a  brief  rest  at  Salem, 
Jackson  moved  again,  reached  Thoroughfare  Gap, 
passed  unopposed  between  its  pine-clad  ramparts ; 
and  debouching  through  its  eastern  mouth,  swooped 
down  upon  the  rear  of  Gen.  Pope. 

The  march  had  been  a  complete  success.  Stuart's 
cavalry  had  presented  an  impenetrable  barrier  to  the 
enemy's  horsemen,  thus  completely  shielding  the  great 
movement ;  Jackson  had  arrived,  next  came  tlve 
fighting,  and  the  cannon  soon  began  to  roar.  The 
plains  around  Manassas,  silent,  asleep,  cursed  it  might 
have  been  said,  through  those  long  months  since 
July,  1861,  had  started,  opened  affrighted  eyes,  and 
again  began  to  groan  as  the  dogs  of  war  coursed 
backward  and  forward  again  over  the  fields  where 
the  foot  sank  into  graves. 

To  comprehend  what  followed,  the  reader  must  look 
at  the  map.  Many  who  read  these  lines,  will  probably 
need  no  such  reference — having  fought  there. 

The  "situation"  may  be  conveyed  in  a  few  words. 
Jickfton,  with  twenty  thousand  men,  was  in  Gen.  Pope'i 


raa  B&OONL  MANA&SAB.  N 

rear;  Lee  was  moving  rapidly  to  join  him;  Gen. 
Pope,  warned  at  last  of  the  fate  which  threatened  him. 
was  hastening  back  from  the  Rappahannock  u>  extri 
cate  himself  from  the  terrible  trap  in  which  he  wai 
nearly  caught. 

But  his  situation  was  by  no  means  discouraging. 
While  Lee,  with  the  great  reserve  under  Longstreet, 
moved  over  the  arc  of  the  circle,  by  way  of  Thorough 
fare,  the  Federal  commander  could  move  over  the 
chord,  by  way  of  the  Orange  railroad.  He  had  the 
straight  line  to  Manassas,  that  is  to  say,  to  Jackson, 
whose  twenty  thousand  men  he  ought  surely,  with 
his  large  army,  to  be  able  to  crush  before  Lee's  arrival. 

That  result  was  indeed  looked  upon  as  certain,  and 
Northern  correspondents — those  children  of  enthu 
siasm —  wrote  to  their  papers  that  the  great  Stonewall 
Jackson  was  at  last  securely  hemmed  in,  and  out-gen- 
eraled,  flanked,  cut  off,  and  as  good  as  captured. 

The  personage  thus  threatened  was  meanwhile  at 
work.  He  knew  that  Gen.  Pope's  great  colunu. 
would  soon  be  hurled  against  him,  mad  with  rage  and 
anticipated  triumph ;  and  the  Virginian  doubtless  pro 
ceeded  on  the  hypothesis  that  nothing  tempers  rage  in 
men,  as  in  animals,  like  starvation.  The  destruction 
of  the  great  stores  at  Manassas  meant  starvation  for 
Gen.  Pope's  followers,  and  Jackson  hastened  to  destroy 
them.  Stuart  rushed  in  with  his  cavalry,  and  an 
infantry  detachment  The  mighty  mass  of  stores  was 
kindled  ;  the  flames  soared  aloft,  and  that  black  cloud 
of  amoke  u]x>n  the  horizon  must  have  announced  ta 
Gtan.  Pope  that  his  precious  bread  and  meat,  and  for 


100  THE  SECOND  MANA&SA& 

age,  that  is  to  say,  the  sustenance  of  his  men  and  ani 
tnals,  were  being  destroyed. 

What  he  could  not  do,  being  out-generaled,  the 
authorities  at  Washington  did.  They  sent  a  brigade 
under  the  brave  Gen.  Taylor  to  protect  the  depot ;  but 
admirably  as  this  brigade  attacked,  it  was  driven  back, 
pursued  toward  Alexandria,  and  the  fate  of  Manassas 
was  sealed.  The  men  of  Jackson  swarmed  in  and  ran 
sacked  it. 

Many  memoirs  of  that  strange  and  grotesque  scene 
have  been  written.  In  the  midst  of  the  burning  store 
houses,  burning  cars,  burning  sutlers'  shops,  surrounded 
by  fire,  smoke,  utter  confusion,  amid  shouts,  cheers, 
cries,  laughter,  the  men  were  feasting  on  unheard-of 
delicacies,  and  with  thirsty  throats  guzzling  rich  wines 
and  cordials. 

"  'Twas  a  curious  sight,"  says  one,  "  to  see  our  ragged 
and  famished  men  helping  themselves  to  every  imagin 
able  article  of  luxury  or  necessity,  whether  of  clothing 
food,  or  what  not.  For  my  part,  I  got  a  tooth-brush 
a  box  of  candles,  a  quantity  of  lobster-salad,  a  barrel 
of  coffee,  and  other  things  which  I  forget.  The  scene 
utterly  beggared  description.  Our  men  had  been  liv 
ing  on  roasted  corn  since  crossing  the  Eappahannock, 
and  we  had  brought  no  wagons,  so  we  could  carry 
little  away  of  the  riches  before  us.  But  the  men  could 
eat  one  meal  at  least.  So  they  were  marched  up,  and 
as  much  of  everything  eatable  served  out  as  they  could 
carry.  To  see  a  starving  man  eating  lobster-salad,  and 
drinking  Rhine  wine,  barefooted  and  in  tatters,  was 
curious ;  the  whole  thing  was  indescribable." 

A  warlike  music  suddenly  came  to  mingle  itself 


THS  SECOND  MANAS8A&  101 

with  tbe  unaccustomed  banquet.  From  the  direction 
of  Bristoe,  a  station  on  the  Orange  railroad,  about  four 
miles  from  Manassas,  came  the  long,  continuous  thun 
der  of  artillery. 

It  was  EwelFs.  That  commander  had  been  sent  to 
hold  the  front,  while  Jackscn  proceeded  to  destroy  thft 
great  depot  at  Manassas,  and  he  was  scarcely  in  poei 
tion  when  the  head  of  Gen.  Pope's  advancing  army 
struck  him.  It  was  commanded  by  Gen.  Hooker, 
whom  Jackson  was  to  overwhelm  at  Chancellorsville. 

A  rough  wrestle  followed.  Ewell  threw  forward 
three  regiments,  opened  with  artillery,  and  attacked  so 
boldly  that  Gen.  Pope  seems  to  have  believed  that  he 
had  in  front  of  him  the  entire  Confederate  force.  He 
consequently  paused,  hurried  forward  his  main  body, 
and  prepared  for  battle.  Ewell  continued  to  roar  defi 
ance  with  his  artillery,  and  show  an  unmoved  front. 
Pope  advanced  a  heavy  force ;  Ewell  advanced  to  meet 
it;  the  two  columns  seemed  about  to  close  in,  in  a 
decisive  struggle,  when  flames  were  seen  to  rise  from 
the  bridge  over  Broad  Run,  between  the  opponents, 
and  when  the  smoke  drifted  away,  Ewell  bad  disap 
peared,  laughing  grimly,  doubtless,  after  his  fashion, 
at  the  result. 

He  had  kept  Gen.  Pope  off  of  Jackson's  rear,  while 
Manassas  was  burning;  that  point  was  evacuated; 
when  Gen.  Pope  rushed  in  on  the  next  morning,  his 
great  adversary  had  disappeared.  Nothing  greeted 
him  but  burning  store  houses  and  blackened  ruins, 
from  which  a  few  cavalry  videttes  retired  at  law 
approach,  disappearing  in  the  woods. 


10>  TEX  SBOOITD  MANAS&AJL 

The  bread,  meat,  and  forage  of  his  army  was  *  heap 
of  ashes. 

This  destruction  of  his  stores  was  truly  unfortunate 
for  the  Federal  commander ;  but  that  was  not  all.  Hii 
enemy  had  vanished.  Where  was  he?  Gen.  Pope 
had  fully  expected  to  find  him  at  Manassas ;  and,  on 
the  preceding  day,  had  written  to  McDowell :  "  If  you 
will  march  promptly  and  rapidly  at  the  earliest 
moment  down  upon  Manassas  Junction,  we  shall  bag 
the  whole  crowd." 

But  "at  the  earliest  dawn"  of  the  28th  Jackson  had 
disappeared,  leaving  Gen.  Pope  greatly  bewildered  in 
reference  to  his  whereabouts.  The  cotemporary  opin 
ions  expressed  by  the  subordinates  of  that  officer  are 
not  complimentary. 

"All  that  talk  about  bagging  Jackson,"  wrote  Ge«i. 
Porter,  "was  bosh.  That  enormous  gap,  Manassas, 
was  left  open,  and  the  enemy  jumped  through," 
"Jackson's  forces,"  he  added,  "were  reported  to  be 
wandering  around  loose,  but  I  expect  that  they  know 
what  they  are  doing,  which  is  more  than  any  one  here, 
or  anywhere,  knows."  On  the  28th,  Gen.  Pope  is 
declared  to  have  hastened  toward  Centreville,  "not 
knowing  at  the  time  where  was  the  enemy." 

And  that  enemy  ought  to  have  been  looked  for 
where  he  ought  to  have  been.  He  ought  to  have  been 
whore  he  could  form  a  junction  with  Lee,  then  ap 
proaching  Thoroughfare — that  is  to  say,  near  Grove- 
ton.  Thither,  in  fact,  Jackson  had  moved  after  the 
destruction  of  Manassas,  on  the  night  of  the  27th, 
thus  escaping  Gen.  Pope,  who  rushed  into  the 


TEE  eiXCOND  JtAXAJ9SA&  101 

•mouldering  pandemonium  during  the  forenoon  of  the 
28th,  only  to  find  that  the  bird  had  flown. 

Let  us  glance  now  at  the  situation  on  that  August 
morning.  Never  was  anything  more  f<  dramatic/ 
Campaigns  are  often  dull,  halting,  and  inconsequential. 

This  one  was  rapid,  fiery,  with  day  linked  to  day  by 
great  events  —  the  whole  tending,  as  though  driven  by 
the  Greek  Necessity,  with  her  iron  wedge,  toward  the 
bloody  catastrophe.  Jackson  had  advanced  from  the 
Rappahannock,  as  rapid  and  resistless  as  some  baleful 
meteor;  and  the  meteor  had  fallen  upon  Manassas, 
the  great  storehouse  of  the  Federals,  and  consumed 
it.  Then  warned  of  his  danger,  Gen.  Pope  had  has 
tened  back,  intent  on  hurling  his  great  column  against 
the  audacious  intruder,  and  crushing  him  in  the  very 
hour  of  .his  triumph.  He  would  "bag  the  who^e 
crowd,"  if  he  could  only  reach  Manassas  on  the  28th. 
He  reached  it  on  the  28th,  but  the  game  had  flown. 

Then,  on  that  morning,  Pope  was  at  Manassas; 
Jackson  at  Groveton,  with  his  left  at  Sudley;  Lt,e  was 
advancing  toward  Thoroughfare  Gap  with  the  veteran 
corps  of  Longstreet;  unless  Pope  could  crush  Jackson 
before  Lee  arrived,  he  must  engage  the  whole  Southern 
army.  As  to  frightening  the  man  of  Kernstown, 
Port  Republic,  and  Cold  Harbor  into  fu!l  retreat,  that 
ivaa  hopeless.  That  trained  and  resolute  gladiator  had 
only  fallen  back  far  enough  to  get  out  of  his  adver 
sary's  clutches  for  the  moment ;  not  too  far  to  render 
possible  a  junction  with  Lee,  if  a  little  time — only  a 
little  time! — were  given  him.  At  bay  on  the  old  bat- 
tle-ti«ld  of  Manassas,  the  dangerous  game  awaited  tha 


104  THE  8BOOND  MANAJ38A&. 

attack  of  the  huntsman,  ready  to  show  his  teeth t  anJ 
resist  d  V entrance. 

The  precious  hours  hurried  en  now;  every  instant 
counted;  the  merest  novice  in  war  could  have  told 
Gen.  Pope  that  the  great,  the  indispensable  thiug 
was  to  interpose  a  force  between  Lee  and  Jackson,  hold 
Thoroughfare  Gap,  and  thus  fight  the  Southern  anny 
in  detail.  But  some  evil  demon  seems  to  have  whif? 
pered  in  the  ear  of  the  Federal  commander:  "  Allow 
Lee  to  unite  with  Jackson ;  do  not  interpose,"  and  the 
advice  was  followed.  The  left  wing,  under  McDowell , 
had  advanced  to  Gainesville,  between  Leo  and  Jack- 
ion,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  28th,  it  was  ordered 
thence  to  Manassas.  Thoroughfare  Gap,  which  should 
have  been  defended  at  all  hazards  by  a  large  force, 
was  defended  by  a  division  only,  and  this  division  re 
tired  almost  as  soon  as  Lee's  cannon  began  to  thunder 
So  trifling  was  the  opposition,  that,  reaching  the  gorge 
at  sunset,  Longstreet  was  pacing  through  at  nine  is 
the  evening;  before  noon  next  day  he  was  coming  into 
position  on  the  right  of  Jackson.  The  latter  had  uol 
yet  been  attacked;  but,  as  though  weary  of  waiting, 
he  had  advanced  and  taken  the  initiative.  While 
standing  at  bay,  Jackson  had  seen  a  dust-cloud  on  hif 
right,  and  prepared  for  an  attack.  But  suddenly  from 
this  dust  emerged  an  officer,  coining  at  full  gallop, 
with  the  intelligence  that  the  dust  was  caused  by 
Stuart's  cavalry.  At  the  same  moment  a  long  line  of 
Federal  bayonets  was  seen  on  the  Warrenton  road  in 
froi-t;  Jackson  turned  to  Ewell,  who  stood  near  by; 
raised  his  arm  aloft;  then,  letting  it  fall  with  a  loud 
•lap  upon  hi*  knee,  he  said,  briefly : 


TEB  BBOOlfD  MANASSAS.  10S 

*Ewell,  advance!" 

Just  as  the  thunder  from  Thoroughfare  began  to 
roar,  Ewell  threw  forward  his  line,  and  attacked  with 
fury  the  Federal  force  in  front  of  him.  It  was  King's 
division,  and  made  a  splendid  fight.  Though  assailed 
in  flank,  they  did  not  give  way,  nor  did  they  flinch 
during  the  whole  engagement.  It  was  only  at  nine 
o'clock  at  night,  when  the  news  of  the  abandonment 
of  Thoroughfare  probably  reached  Gen.  King,  that 
the  Federal  lines  retired.  They  had  been  advancing 
toward  Stone  Bridge;  they  fell  back  on  Manassas. 
Thus  McDowell,  Ricketts  (at  Thoroughfare)  and  King, 
had  all  retired,  one  after  another,  upon  Manassas.  At 
dawn  on  the  29th,  the  golden  moment  had  flitted  by ; 
the  gate  of  destiny  had  silently  turned  upon  its  iron 
hinge ;  Pope  was  "  massed  ; "  Lee  was  massed  ;  it  was 
army  against  army.  The  brain  of  Gen.  Pope  was  to 
be  measured  against  the  brain  of  Gen.  Lee. 

Jackson  had  lost  his  right  arm,  Ewell — severely 
wounded  in  the  battle  just  fought  —  but  the  crushing 
weight  of  a  great  anxiety  had  been  lifted  from  hia 
breast.  Lee  had  arrived;  when  that  intelligence  was 
brought  him,  he  drew  a  long  breath  of  relief,  and  his 
eyes  were  raised  to  heaven  in  prayer  and  gratitude. 

All  the  morning  Gen.  Longstreet  was  coming  ints 
position ;  part  of  his  line  of  battle  was  formed,  indeed, 
by  nine  o'clock,  and  the  whole  line  resembled  an  open 
V".  Jackson's  force  was  the  left  wing;  Longfltreet'a 
the  right.  At  the  angle  was  Groveton,  a  small  assem 
blage  of  houses,  near  w\iich  Stephen  D.  Loe  was  in 
vomroand  of  about  thirty  pieces  of  artillery. 


106  THE  BS001TD  MANABBA&. 

Longstreet  was  ready  about  noon.  At  five  in  the 
evening  Gen.  Pope  did  not  know  of  his  arrival. 

Does  that  statement  seem  absurd,  and  is  it  greeted 
by  any  reader  with  incredulous  laighter?  Proof  — 
Porter  was  ordered  at  half-past  four  to  attack  the 
right  and  rear  of  Jackson !  "  I  believe,"  pays  Gen. 
Pope  —  "in  fact,  I  am  positive  —  that  at  five  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  of  the  29th,  Gen.  Porter  had  in  hit 
front  no  considerable  body  of  the  enemy.  I  believed 
then,  as  I  am  very  sure  now,  that  it  was  easily  prac 
ticable  for  him  to  have  turned  the  right  flank  of  Jack 
son,  and  to  have  fallen  upon  his  rear ;  that  if  he  had 
done  so  we  should  have  gained  a  decisive  victory  ovei 
the  army  under  Jackson,  before  he  could  have  been 
joined  by  any  of  the  forces  of  Longstreet." 

The  present  writer  spoke  to  Gen.  Longstreet,  within 
twenty  yards  of  his  line  of  battle — kneeling  on  the 
right  knee,  finger  on  trigger — before  noon.  Gen. 
Fitz  John  Porter — that  stubborn  fighter  on  the  Penin 
sula  and  at  Sharpsburg — was  tried  by  court-martial, 
and  dismissed  from  the  service,  for  not  attacking  Jack 
son's  right  at  jwe  in  the  evening,  "before  he  could 
have  been  joined  by  any  of  the  forces  of  Longstreet," 
as  says  Gen.  Pope. 

"The  force  of  'party'  conld  no  farther  got" 

"We  have  traced,  perhaps  tediously,  the  steps  of  the 
two  adversaries,  by  which  they  steadily  advanced  to 
the  moment  and  the  place  of  decisive  struggle.  Tha* 
narrative,  we  thought,  would  interest  the  thoughtful 
reader  more  than  a  florid  series  of  paragraphs  upon  the 
fighting.  The  movemeita  which  we  have 


THE  SECOND  MANASSAA  107 

decided  the  second  battle  of  Manassas.  When  Lee 
had  massed  his  army,  the  hour  of  destiny  had  struck. 
The  defeat  of  Gen.  Pope  was  merely  a  question  of 
time  and  detail.  That  result  might  occur  thus  or  thus: 
it  would  certainly  take  place. 

"The  histories"  will  describe  in  detail  the  long, 
obstinate,  and  bloody,  but  never  doubtful  conflict 
The  present  writer  retires  from  the  domain  of  that 
great  muse ;  it  is  only  some  salient  points  that  he  begs 
to  speak  of.  And  even  these  may  not  be  understood 
without  a  diagram ;  for  what  is  plain  to  those  who  saw 
the  ground,  is  the  mystery  of  mysteries  to  those  who 
have  never  seen  it. 

Let  us  ascend  that  hill  within  sight  of  Groveton  and 
look.  We  are  near  the  Southern  centre.  Those  gray 
lines,  extending  toward  the  left,  are  Jackson's.  1  n  his 
front  is  a  wood  and  an  unfinished  railroad  cut,  where 
the  adversaries  are  going  to  grapple  in  bitterest  conflict 
—  to  fire  within  a  few  paces  of  each  other  —  to  stab 
and  fence  with  their  bayonets  —  to  seize  rocks  and  hurl 
them,  breaking  each  other's  skulls.  In  the  centre, 
near  at  hand,  are  the  guns  of  Stephen  Lee — that 
hardy  soldier,  and  accomplished  gentleman  —  waiting, 
grim  and  silent,  for  the  great  assault  from  the  woods 
»>eyond  Groveton,  which  round-shot,  shell  and  canister 
id  going  to  meet.  On  the  right,  stretching  far  beyond 
the  Warrenton  road,  is  the  embattled  line  of  Long- 
street/  bristling  with  bayonets,  and  flanked  with  can 
non.  He  is  there,  though  Gen.  Pope  is  telling  Porter 
that  he  is  not —  there,  firmly  rooted,  the  most  stubborn 
of  realities,  On  the  rigl  t  of  Longstreet  are  the  oolr 


108  TRB  SECOND 


ami,.-  of  Stuart's  cavalry,  held  in  hand  for  tl  o  pun  m 
the  men  sitting  or  standing  by  their  horses. 

Riding  slowly  to  arid  fro  along  the  lines  are  two  or 
three  figures,  whose  appearance  the  troops  greet  with 
\\n  nits. 

One  is  that  of  a  man  of  al>out  thirty-eight,  in  a 
ling}  old  coat  and  faded  cap,  who  rides  with  his  kneea 
drawn  up,  and  raises  his  chin  to  look  from  beneath  hia 
cap  rim,  rarely  speaking,  apparently  sunk  hi  deep  rev 
eiy.  That  is  Jackson. 

Another  is  portly,  athletic,  with  a  long  brown  beard 
and  mustache,  half  covering  the  broad,  calm  face, 
which  habitually  smiles  —  a  man  apparently  of  invin 
cible  coolness,  almost  apathetic-looking,  but  notable 
That  is  Longstreet,  Lee's  "  Old  War-Horse  "  —  a  man 
to  count  on  when  hard  and  stubborn  lighting  is  neces 
sary  —  when  to  spring  like  the  tiger  and  never  let  go, 
like  the  bull-dog,  is  the  order  of  the  day. 

A  third  is  the  gay  cavalier  yonder,  with  the  heavy 
mustache,  the  laughing  blue  eyes,  the  gauntleted  hand 
stroking  the  heavy  beard,  the  lofty  forehead,  sur 
mounted  by  the  plumed  hat,  the  tall  cavalry  boots  and 
the  rattling  sabre.  That  is  Stuart. 

Of  Jackson,  Lee  will  say  when  he  falls,  "  I  have  lost 
my  right  arm." 

Of  Stuart,  "I  can  scarcely  think  of  him  without 
weeping." 

When  he  parts  with  Longstreet,  his  "Old  War- 
Horee,"  at  Appomattox,  there  will  be  tears  in  the  eyea 
of  each  of  them,  as  they  remember  all  those  g^riooi 
encounters,  one  of  which  we  are  now  essaying  to  de» 
oribe. 


THE  SECOND  KANAS8AA 

\Ve  nave  looked  at  the  Southern  lines,  on  the  Grove 
ton  heights — the  gray-backs  lying  down  in  a  crescent 
shaped  order  of  battle,  and  ready  ;  but  we  have  f  orgol 
ten  the  Federal  line,  as  the  laughing  "  rebels  "  appeal 
to  have  done.     It  is  a  crescent  too,  with  artillery  nn 
every  knoll,   cavalry  ready   at   every  opening.     The 
bristling  bayonets  of  the  great  host  curve  round,  fol 
lowing  the  formation  of  the  Southern  line.     The  two 
crescents  will  not    fit  into  each  other  without  the 
cement  of  blood. 

Gen.  Pope  attacked  in  the  afternoon,  and  his  first 
movement  was  resolute.  He  threw  his  right  against 
Jackson's  left ;  a  wedge  of  Federal  bayonets  pierced  a 
gap  in  A.  P.  Hill's  line,  and  the  extreme  left  of  the 
Confederate  army  seemed  about  to  be  annihilated. 
Hard  fighting  only  saved  it ;  the  enemy  were  repulsed, 
and  when  they  attacked  again  with  fury,  they  were 
again  driven  back.  Gen.  McGowan  reported  that 
"  the  opposing  forces  at  one  time  delivered  their  vol 
leys  into  each  other  at  a  distance  of  ten  paces,"  and 
Hill  stated  that  his  division  repulsed  "  six  separate  and 
distinct  assaults." 

This  attack  was  made  by  Gen.  Kearney,  one  of  the 
bravest  and  most  accomplished  officers  of  the  Federal 
army.  It  nearly  crushed  Hill,  but  reinforcements  ena 
bled  him  to  hold  his  ground,  and  at  night  Kearney 
retired.  Thus  terminated  the  first  day's  operations; 
the  railroad  cut  was  full  of  dead  and  wounded,  riddled 
with  bnllets,  pierced  with  bayonets,  and  torn  by  shell, 
but  both  lines  retired. 

The  dawn  of  Saturday,  che  30th  of  August,  found 
die  adversaries  still  face  to  face.    Gen.  Pope  had  de- 
10 


110  TUB  SECOND  MANAhBAA 

termined  to  remain  and  fight  it  out,  though,  by  retiring 
to  Centreville,  he  would  have  united  with  Franklin  ana 
Sumner,  coming  from  Alexandria,  been  nearer  his  base, 
--that  is  to  say,  his  rations,  —  and  would  have  occu 
pied  a  jKJsition  greatly  stronger  than  at  Groveton. 

But  the  evil  fate  of  the  Federal  commander  drove 
him  on,  and  blinded  him.  On  the  30th,  incredible  as 
it  may  appear,  he  seems  not  to  have  known  of  the  pres 
ence  of  Longstreet*  and  he  still  cherished  the  hope  of 
crushing  Jackson.  An  attack  in  force  was  accordingly 
directed  against  the  Confederate  left  and  centre,  and 
the  second  battle  of  Manassas,  about  three  in  the  after 
noon,  commenced  in  all  its  fury. 

It  was  one  of  the  most  desperate  of  the  war,  and  one 
of  the  bloodiest.  The  Lieutenants  of  Gen.  Pope  were 
abler  than  their  commander,  and,  if  his  own  country 
men  are  authority,  possessed  more  military  nerve.  They 
attacked  with  a  gallantry  which  more  than  once  threat 
ened  to  sweep  before  it  the  Confederate  line  of  battle ; 
and,  in  charge  after  charge,  in  the  face  of  frightful 
volleys  of  small  arms  and  artillery,  essayed  to  break 
through  the  bristling  hedge  of  bayonets  before  them. 
The  assault  upon  the  Confederate  centre  was  desperate. 
To  this,  the  attention  of  the  present  writer  was  particu 
larly  called. 

The  charge  was  made  from  Groveton,  right  in  the 

•  "  A  wounded  Confederate  soldier ....  reported  that  he  had 
hiwurd  his  comrades  say  that  '  Jackson  was  retiring  to  unite  with 
Longstreet.'  ....  Pope,  who  had  not  that  day  been  to  the  front, 
accepted  the  story  as  indicating  a  real  falling  back,  and  telegraphed 
fco  Washington  that  the  enemy  was  '  retreating  to  the  mountain*.'  * 
—  Mr.  Suinton's  Army  of  the  Potomac,  p,  188. 


THE  SECOND  MANA3BA&  111 

face  of  Stephen  D.  Lee's  artillery,  and  appeared  :o  b« 
in  column  of  brigades.  The  first  brigade  advanced  at 
a  double-quick  from  the  woods,  so  admirably  dressed, 
that  the  half-bent  knees  of  the  men  moved  in  a  liue 
as  perfect  as  on  parade.  Before,  hovve\er,  iney  had 
reached  the  centre  of  the  open  field  in  front,  thirty 
pieces  of  artillery  opened  upon  them ;  the  air  was  filled 
with  shell,  bui  sting  in  front,  above,  on  the  right,  on  the 
left  of  them ;  great  gaps  appeared ;  the  line  wavered, 
then  broke,  then  it  disappeared,  a  mere  mass  of  fugi 
tives,  in  the  woods.  In  ten  minutes,  however,  a  second 
origade  appeared,  advanced  at  a  double-quick,  like  the 
first,  and  was  in  like  manner  torn  to  pieces  by  the 
frightful  fire,  disappearing,  like  the  first,  beneath  the 
protecting  shadows  of  the  woods.  A  third  charge  was 
made;  a  third  and  more  bloody  repulse  succeeded; 
then  the  great  field  between  the  adversaries  suddenly 
swarmed  with  Jackson's  men,  rushing  forward  in  the 
wildest  disorder  —  without  pretence  of  a  line,  and 
"  every  man  for  himself  "  toward  the  enemy. 

For  a  few  moments  the  field  thus  presented  a  specta 
cle  of  apparent  disorganization,  which  would  have  made 
a  European  officer  tremble.  Then  suddenly  all  changed. 
As  the  men  drew  near  the  enemy,  they  checked  their 
headlong  speed ;  those  in  front  stopped,  those  in  rear 
closed  up ;  the  lines  were  dressed  as  straight  as  an  arrow, 
with  the  battle-flags  rippling  as  they  moved;  cheers 
resounded,  and  the  regiments  entered  the  woods,  from 
which  rose  the  long,  continuous  crash  of  musketry,  ai 
the  opposing  lines  came  together. 

That  was  late  in  the  evening,  ani  the  Federal  forced 


112  TBS  BSOOND  XANAB&A& 

never  made  another  charge.   On  the  contrary,  the  Con 
federate  lines  everywhere  advanced. 

Longstreet  swept  steadily  round,  closing  in,  with  hit 
inexorable  grip,  upon  the  enemy's  left,  toward  the  Henry 
House  hill.  Jackson's  whole  command  advanced.  Night 
<lescended  upon  a  last  infuriate  grapple  of  infantry, 
jldflh  of  cavalry,  and  duel  of  artillery,  amid  which  it 
was  easy  to  distinguish  those  tumultuous  Confederate 
ehee/s,  whose  resounding  echoes  had,  on  many  battle 
fields,  announced  the  hard- won  victory. 

Gen.  1'ope  was  defeated ;  his  cannon  glared  in  the 
dark  from  the  Henry  House  hill,  and  near  the  Old 
Stone  House;  then  night  swallowed  the  great  scene 
of  wounds  and  death.  Gen.  Pope  retreated  in  the 
darkness  to  Centreville,  whence  he  speedily  continued 
his  withdrawal  to  Washington. 

This  was  Saturday.  It  was  on  Monday  that  Gen. 
McClellan  telegraphed  from  Alexandria : 

'•  This  week  is  the  crisis  of  our  fate." 

Such  was  the  great  "  Second  Battle  of  Manassas," 
and  it  possesses  an  interest  of  its  own,  a  strange  char 
acter  separating  it  from  almost  all  other  conflicts 
Few  events  in  the  annals  of  war  exceed  it  in  that 
singularly  dramatic  character  which  the  locality  gave 
it.  In  July,  1861,  Jackson's  brigade  had  here  decided 
the  issue  of  a  great  battle.  Now,  in  August,  1862, 
the  same  commander  had  grappled  with  the  old  adver 
sary,  upon  almost  the  very  same  ground,  —  almost,  but 
not  quite, — for  the  opponents  had  changed  sides.  Hun 
ter  had  fought  Evans  and  Bee  with  his  back  tc  Sudley ; 
it  was  Jackson  now  who  held  that  position.  Johnston 
and  Beauregard  had  assailed,  in  old  days,  from  the 


direction  of  Manassas ;  it  was  now  Pope  who  nad  hii 
base  there  —  a  shifting  base,  soon  to  be  transferred,  a* 
we  have  seen,  to  Alexandria ! 

And  all  those  old  familiar  objects  made  a  singular 
impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  soldiers — at  least 
the  writer,  who  saw  the  fight,  can  speak  for  himself. 
Before  him  lies  a  leaf  with  these  lines  in  pencil  — 
written  on  the  night  of  the  battle :  "  Strange,  passing 
strange !  Yonder,  a  mile  or  two  away,  is  the  ground 
where  Evans  commenced  the  '  battle  of  the  21st.'  A 
dispatch,  just  arrived,  says  'Jackson  is  at  the  Stone 
House '  —  we  sleep  upon  the  soil,  bathed  a  year  ago  in 
Southern  blood." 

"Batteries  were  planted  and  captured  yesterday,' 
said  a  writer,  "  where  they  were  planted  and  captured 
last  year.-  The  pine  thicket,  where  the  Fourth  Alabama 
and  the  Eighth  Georgia  suffered  so  terribly  in  the  first 
battle,  is  now  strewn  with  the  slain  of  the  invader. 
We  charged  through  the  same  woods  yesterday,  though 
from  a  different  point,  where  Kirby  Smith,  the  Bluchei 
of  the  day,  entered  the  fight  before." 

Thus  this  bloody  action  had  come  to  add  additional 
shadows  to  the  already  weird  and  sombre  fields  of  Ma 
nassas.  Again  the  Federal  power  was  broken ;  a  second 
time  the  banks  of  this  stream,  once  so  insignificant, 
were  baptized  with  the  blood  of  battle. 

There  are  spots  on  the  world's  surface  over  which 
Bcem  to  lower  huge,  shadowy  figures,  uttering  lugubri 
ous  groans,  which  the  winds  bear  away,  ar.d  pointing, 
with  distendad  eyes,  and  arms  in  sable  drapery,  to  the 
yawning  graves  which  curse  the  beautiful  face  of 
nature,  Manassas  and  Cold  Harbor  are  among  theew 

ur 


114  THE  SECOND  MANAS8AB. 

places,  and  there  hover  a  double  t/oop  of  somore  shad 
ows  ;  for  here  men  have  twice  met  in  mortal  grapple 
—  here  the  graves  are  double  in  number;  BO  thick  are 
they,  that  you  tread  on  them. 

You  tread  on  few  flowers ;  hear  the  sigh  of  the  wind 
in  the  leaves  of  few  trees ;  rarely  the  birds  of  spring 
wcg  there,  and  the  sunshine  itself  seems  sad. 

These  spots,  with  Gettysburg,  are  the  three  Golge 
of  the  Western  World. 


SHAJSPSBTJBG  was  the  first  and  last  great  battle  or  the 
soil  of  Maryland.  In  the  hours  of  one  September  day 
was  decided  the  fate  of  Baltimore  and  Washington. 
Tactically  a  drawn  battle,  it  was  strategically  a  Con 
federate  defeat.  Add  to  these  notable  features  the 
further  circumstance  that  it  was  the  last  fight  of  Me 
Clellan.  That  ought,  of  itself,  to  make  it  interesting. 

Let  us  follow  the  steps  of  the  two  athletes  who  had 
already  crossed  swords  on  the  banks  of  the  Chickahom- 
iny,  and  who  now  advanced  to  a  final  trial  of  each 
other's  muscle  on  the  soil  of  Maryland.  These  hardy 
adversaries  were  Lee,  commanding  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia,  and  McClellan,  commanding  the  Army 
}f  the  Potomac. 

On  the  last  day  of  August,  the  fate  of  Gen.  Pop6 
had  been  decided.  His  shattered  battalions  had  re 
treated  from  the  fields  of  Manassas,  and  Lee  pressed 
on  to  complete  the  victory  which  had  cost  him  so  much 
blood.  Gen.  Pope  had  but  one  ambition  now — to  save 
the  remnant  of  his  army,  —  and  to  this  work  he  sedu 
lously  addressed  himself,  on  Monday,  the  1st  of  Sep 
tember,  by  doing  what  he  ought  to  have  done 

(115) 


116  etLAJtfSBUSG. 

delivering  battle — utilizing,  that  is  to  say,  he  troopi 
of  Sumner  and  Franklin. 

These  had  pushed  out  as  rapidly  as  possible  from 
Alexandria,  and  now,  on  this  1st  of  September,  were 
at  Germuntown  —  a  email  village  a  mile  or  two  west 
of  Fairfax  Court  House.  Here  line  of  battle  w&i 
formed,  with  the  right  at  Germantown,  and  the  left 
toward  Centreville,  and  the  troops  were  hardly  in  posi 
tion  when  the  men  of  Jackson  were  seen  advancing  by 
the  Little  River  turnpike. 

Their  commander  was  worn  out,  and  had  sat  dow& 
under  a  tree,  leaned  his  back  against  the  trunk,  folded 
his  hands  across  his  breast,  and  was  asleep.  The  crack 
of  the  skirmishers  awoke  him  soon ;  he  rose,  mounted 
his  horse,  and  in  fifteen  minutes  was  at  the  head  of  his 
column,  then  advancing  upon  the  enemy. 

This  battle  was  a  strange  one.  No  sooner  had  the 
artillery  begun  to  roar,  than,  as  if  in  response,  the 
heavens  echoed  it.  The  cheers  of  the  men  were  re 
sponded  to  by  the  rushing  sound  of  a  great  wind  in 
the  trees ;  the  glare  of  the  cannon,  by  dazzling  flashes 
of  lightning ;  the  thunder  of  the  guns,  by  crash  after 
crash  from  the  black  and  lowering  clouds.  In  the 
midst  of  this  conflict  of  the  elements,  the  human  con 
flict  commenced,  and  the  huge  torrents  of  rain,  which 
soon  began  to  fall,  seemed  the  protest  of  the  inanimate 
world  against  this  revel  of  man's  passions.  So  heavj 
was  the  rain,  that  one  of  Jackson's  commanders  sent 
him  word  that  the  powder  of  the  men  could  not  be 
kept  dry ;  he  would  soon  be  compelled  to  abandon  hia 
position.  But  that  thing  of  abandoning  a  position 
rarely  suited  Jackson, 


11T 


"  Tell  him  to  hold  his  ground,"  he  said,  In  o  ^ef  ac 
cents,  to  the  messenger;  "if  his  guns  will  not  go  off, 
neither  will  the  enemy's  !  " 

And  the  line  remained  firm  ;  the  enemy  made  no 
headway,  and  yet  they  fought  well.  They  were  fresh, 
and  commanded  by  the  brave  Kearney  and  others. 
Thw  day  was  t<>  be  the  last  of  the  old  foe  of  Fremont. 
Kearney  rushed  forward  to  rally  his  lines,  mistook  a 
Confederate  party  fo-  >ris  own  men,  turned  and  gal 
loped  away;  but  a  bullet  overtook  him. 

On  the  next  morning  I  was  riding  along  the  turn 
pike,  and  saw  H  cr<  >wd  gathering  at  a  small  house  by 
the  wayside. 

"What  are  those  men  looking  at?"  1  inquired  of  a 
soldier. 

"At  the  body  of  Gen.  Kearney,  which  Gen.  Lee 
is  just  going  to  send,  with  a  flag  of  truce,  to  hii 
friends." 

After  the  fall  of  this  gallant  soldier,  the  enemy  did 
not  continue  the  contest  with  much  ardor.  At  night 
the;y  still  were  there,  in  the  dark  and  dripping  woods, 
which  the  storm  lashed  as  before  ;  at  dawn  they  had 
disappeared.  Behind  that  friendly  rampart,  covering 
the  Warrentou  road  to  Centreville,  Gen.  Pope  had 
retreated.  At  sunrise  Stuart's  cavalry  rushed  with 
cheers  into  Fairfax,  but  the  Federal  columns  were  as 
far  as  Annandale.  In  the  debris  —  guas,  oilcloth,  and 
knapsacks  —  scattered  along  the  road,  you  read  plainly, 
*  Exit  Pope." 

And  now  the  unskilled  soldiers,  on  that  2d  of  Sep 
tember,  1862,  thought  "We  are  going  struight  to 
Washington."  No  lees  a  personage  than  Jackson 


118  SHARP8BU3&. 

•eemed  to  encourage  this  idea.  Sitting  his  Lorse  oa 
the  Oxhill  ridge,  surrounded  by  the  curie  us,  he  said 
briefly  to  an  officer : 

"  What  roads  lead  to  Vienna  and ?  n 

The  latter  words  were  spoken  too  low  to  be  caught 
Receiving  a  reply,  he  nodded,  reflected  an  instant,  and 
then  rode  away.  Taking  the  head  of  his  column,  he 
pushed  on — toward  Leesburg.  Leesburg  meant  not 
Washington,  but  the  Cumberland  Valley. 

Gen.  Lee  had,  it  seems,  determined  to  enter  Mary 
land  above,  and  fight  his  second  battle  in  Pennsyl 
vania. 

No  time  was  lost.  The  men  were  worn  to  exhaus 
tion  by  the  heavy  marching  and  fighting,  without 
rations,  of  the  last  few  weeks ;  but  there  was  no  time 
to  pause.  Before  the  smoke  had  drifted  away  from 
the  great  field  of  conflict,  the  column  was  in  motion  ; 
in  three  days,  it  passed  the  Potomac  at  Leesburg  — 
the  men  cheering,  and  the  bands  playing  "Maryland, 
my  Maryland ! "  On  the  7th  of  September,  Lee  had 
massed  his  army  in  the  vicinity  of  Frederick  City. 

Disappointment  awaited  here  those  confiding  gray 
people,  who  supposed  that  the  Marylanders  would  rush 
to  arms.  Most  of  them  rushed  into  their  houses,  and 
slammed  the  doors.  The  "  rebels "  were  regarded  not 
as  friends,  but  enemies.  The  inhabitants  were 
"  Union,"  and  will  doubtless  take  pride  in  the  state 
ment  here  made,  that,  as  soon  as  they  found  they  had 
nothing  to  fear,  they  exhibited  unmistakable  hostility. 
Those  fears,  indeed,  speedily  vanished.  They  dis 
covered  that  in  Gen.  Lee  they  had  to  deal  with  a 
gentleman,  and  a  "Christian  warrior"-  •  a  'ommander 


SHARPRBURG. 

c-f  the  strictest  ideas.  A  sneering  journal,  indeed,  said, 
w  If  Gen.  Lee  saw  the  top  rail  of  a  fence  pulled  offt 
sis  he  passed  by,  he  would  dismount  and  replace  it  with 
bis  own  hands."  The  result  was  simple,  as  the  logic 
wrae  obvious.  A  mft^  who  would  put  back  the  rails  of 
&  fence  was  not  apt  to  burn  dwellings,  and  plunder 
Carders  d  la  Pope.  Consequent  defiance  of  him,  and 
more  resolute  adherence  than  before  to  "the  best 
government  the  world  ever  saw."  The  general  senti 
ment,  "  Wait,  wearers  of  the  gray !  The  patriots  in 
blue  are  coming ! " 

These  statements  may  seem  strange  to  some  readers, 
"  Can  it  be  possible,"  they  may  say,  "  that  Lee  wag 
so  greeted  on  that  soil — thus  received  in  the  great  and 
illustrious  Commonwealth  of  Maryland,  where,  in 
Baltimore  —  the  elegant,  the  aristocratic,  the  defiant 
Baltimore  —  a  large  Federal  force  could  alone  hold 
down  the  almost  irrepressible  sympathy  with  the 
South ;  where,  in  the  lower  counties,  the  gentlemen 
tliroughout  the  war  denounced  the  North,  and  cheered 
the  South,  in  the  most  public  places  ?  Could  Mary 
land  have  thus  acted  —  Maryland,  the  proud,  the 
thorough-bred,  the  bitterly  Southern  Maryland,  who 
had  sent  her  heroic  sons  to  bleed  for  Virginia — 
smuggled  medicines,  cloths,  and  words  of  cheer, 
through  the  blockade — prayed,  with  sobs  and  tears, 
for  the  Southern  success — whose  very  women  and  girls 
turned  away  with  scorn  in  their  faces,  drawing  their 
skirts  close  to  their  persons,  when  Federal  officers 
passed,  that  they  might  not  be  soi1  yl  by  the  contact  ?  " 
The  explanation  is  simple.  The  Southern  troop* 
were  in  Maryland,  and  they  were  not  in  Maryland 


190  BBARP8BVRQ. 

The  population  differed  here,  as  in  Tidewater  and 

North-western  Virginia.  Lord  Baltimore  settled  east 
ern,  William  Penn  western  Maryland.  That  is  to  say, 
that  eastern  Maryland  was  English  —  which  is  Vir 
ginian —  western  Maryland  Pennsylvanian,  that  it 
northern.  That  explains  the  whole. 

And  yet  there  were  some,  dven  here,  whose  whole 
hearts  went  forth  to  meet  and  ^reet  the  Red  Cross  flag. 
In  locked-up  rooms  ladies  sewed  day  and  night  for  the 
ragged  soldiers.  In  many  houses  Confederate  flags 
were  ready  to  be  produced.  From  some  houses  white 
handkerchiefs  were  waved — from  a  few,  cheers  were 
heard.  Let  us  not  blame  very  bitterly  the  owners  of 
these  flags,  which  were  never  unfolded  and  given  to 
the  air.  The  "blue  patriots"  were  coming,  and  the 
Union  neighbors  of  the  Southern  sympathizers  were 
sure  to  deDOunce  them  to  the  Federal  vengeance. 
Hearts  were  warm,  but  life  and  property  were  dear. 
It  is  hard  to  expect  that  husbands  ai  id  fathers  should 
bring  beggary  and  exile  on  wife  and  children  for  any 
caufeo.  So  those  flags  were  never  waved,  or  waved 
timidly  for  an  instant,  and  then  quietly  withdrawn. 
The  stormy  winds  of  that  reign  of  terror  blew  them 
away. 

On  the  day  after  his  arrival  at  Frederick  City,  Gen. 
Ijee  issued  an  address  to  the  people  of  Maryland 
That  calm  and  admirable  paper  will  present  a  terrible 
contrast  in  history,  to  the  brutal  "  expatriation  order  " 
of  Gen.  Pope  in  Culpeper,  which  the  very  authorities 
at  Washington  had  to  disown.  Lee  declared  to  the 
pec  pie  that  he  had  come  to  aid  them  "  in  regaining 
the  rights  of  which  they  had  been  despoiled,"  but  no 


8HABPSBURO.  121 


new  tyranny  would  be  imposed  —  no  citizen  ~ 
by  martial  law;  to  each  and  all  woild  be  accorded  the 
right  "  to  decide  his  destiny  freely,  and  without  con 
straint." 

When  that  paper  was  made  public,  a  few  cheera 
arose,  a  few  halloos  resounded;  then  followed  an  omi 
nous  silence.  No  enthusiasm  was  exhibited  —  only  a 
few  recruits  appeared  —  it  was  obvious  that  the  dream 
of  thousands  rushing  to  the  Southern  flag  was  a  com 
plete  hallucination. 

If  the  result  disappointed  the  great  commander  of 
the  Confederates,  he  did  not  show  it.  That  invincible 
calmness  which  characterized  him  never  changed.  He 
knew  what  he  could  depend  upon,  and  to  that  he 
turned  —  his  old  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

And  yet  only  about  one-half  of  that  army  was  at  hia 
orders,  a  fact  which  it  is  absolutely  essential  to  remem 
ber  in  following  the  events  which  we  are  about  to  re 
cord.  That  is  the  key-note,  and  we  beg  that  it  will  be 
kept  in  view.  Nearly  half  of  Lee's  army  was  still  limp 
ing  along,  barefooted  and  exhausted,  far  in  rear,  on  the 
Virginia  side.  Not  once,  but  a  hundred  times,  has  the 
statement  been  made,  that  these  men  were  stragglers, 
intending  desertion.  That  statement  is  an  injustice  to 
the  brave  soldiers  of  the  army.  The  immense  marches 
and  desperate  combats  of  the  last  month  had  ex 
hausted  them  Barefooted,  in  rags,  unfed,  worn  out, 
they  dragged  their  feet  along,  trying  to  keep  up.  And 
they  would  have  arrived,  but  for  one  circumstance. 
McClellan's  rapid  advance  uncovered  the  fords  near 
Leesburg  ;  crossing  these,  the  "  stragglers  "  would  have 
found  McCleUan,  not  Lee.  In  fact,  Gen.  Lee  issued 
11 


122  SHARP8BUE1. 

an  jixier  forbidding  it,  and  thus  these  twenty  thousand 
or  more  unfcrtunate,  not  criminal,  men,  who  filled  the 
fields  of  Loudoun,  or  crouched  on  the  heights  near 
Leesburgj  were  pointed  at  and  stigmatized  as  strag 
glers. 

So  it  then  appeared;  and  their  stronger  comrades 
even,  who  had  been  able  to  keep  up,  joined  in  the 
ntatement.  But  time  sets  everything  right.  Tho 
causes  of  the  larger  part  of  that  "  straggling  "  are  no\v 
known.  It  was  hunger,  exhaustion,  bleeding  feet,  and 
wounds  which  prevented  the  majority  of  those  men 
from  being  present  at  the  bitter  wrestle  of  Sharps- 
burg. 

Lee  was  left  with  about  forty  thousand  men,  of  all 
arms,  to  oppose  McClellan's  one  hundred  thousand, 
then  advancing. 

The  marshalling  of  that  army  was  one  of  the  most 
marvellous  phenomena  of  the  war.  On  the  1st  day  oJ 
September,  Gen.  Pope  wag  defeated  —  his  forces  disor 
ganized  and  demoralized  beyond  the  power  of  words 
— and  the  Government  at  Washington  was  looking 
every  moment  for  the  coming  of  Lee,  as  it  had  looked 
after  the  Manassas  of  July,  1861,  for  the  coming  of 
Johnston. 

Twelve  days  afterwards  McClellan  was  at  Frederick 

%/ 

City  with  a  force  of  nearly  one  hundred  thousand 
men,  and  was  pushing  after  Lee,  who  was  retiring. 

l?eac!  the  Federal  documents  relating  to  that  period, 
*cd  see  what  was  thought  of  McClellan  in  reality. 

The}  thwarted  him,  denounced  him,  professed  to 
despise  him,  and  removed  him,  to  put  Pope  in  his 
place ;  but,  when  the  dark  hour  came,  'hey  cried,  '•  Pro 


BHARPBBURG.  123 

tect  the  capital !  —  you  only  can  do  it ; '  It  was  true 
that  the  axe  of  the  headsman  was  being  sharpened  even 
then  for  him.  When  he  had  perfected  the  great  crime 
of  defeating  Lee,  his  head  was  to  roll,  and  a  voice  wan 
to  cry  aloud  from  the  Bureau  of  War — a  voice  mar 
vellously  resembling  that  of  Maj.  Gen.  Halleck: 

"  So  perish  all  who  oppose  our  policy ! " 

Meanwhile,  however,  the  services  of  the  skilful  sol 
dier  were  needed  —  were  indispensable.  The  country 
confided  in  him.  The  troops  adored  him.  He  sum 
moned  the  men  to  return  to  their  standards;  they 
obeyed  him  with  alacrity;  he  took  the  head  of  the 
army,  and  advanced  upon  Lee.  To  have  believed  on 
the  1st  of  September  that  this  was  possible,  would 
have  been  to  fall  into  the  fantastic.  In  a  week  the 
world  had  only  to  look  and  see.  McClellan  had  under 
him  nearly  one  hundred  thousand  troops,  and  without 
a  scrap  of  orders*  beyond  "  Protect  the  capital,"  be 
gan  an  offensive  campaign  in  the  direction  of  Penn 
sylvania. 

On  the  12th,  as  we  have  said,  he  had  reached  Fred 
erick  City.  His  advance  had  struck  Lee's  rear — the 
adversaries  were  in  view  of  each  other  —  the  thunders 
of  battle  again  resounded. 

Lee  had  fallen  back  from  Frederick,  and  his  gray 
columns  were  defiling  through  the  passes  of  the  Catoc- 
tan  and  South  Mountains.  What  did  he  design? 
Were  those  ragged  Southerners,  tramping  on  gayly, 
with  their  bright  muskets,  and  exclaiming  "  Pennsyl 
vania  1  Pennsylvania ! "  as  they  had  exclaimed  "  Mary- 

*  Bee  ku»  examination  before  the  Committee  on  the  Oondnot  of 
U*  War. 


1S4  BHASP8BURG. 

landl  Maryland  1" — were  the  veterans  of  the  olJ 
army  deceived  in  their  anticipations,  and  Lad  I*sr 
brought  them  thither  only,  as  some  said,  to  capturr 
Harper's  Ferry?  The  thing  was  incredible,  and  re 
mains  incredible  to-day.  Little  doubt  exist**  now  tha' 
Ids  object  then,  in  September,  1862,  was  the  same  an 
in  June,  1863  —  namely,  to  advance  into  Pennsylvania, 
keeping  open  his  communications  by  the  Shenandoah 
Valley  —  draw  the  Federal  army  as  far  as  possible 
from  its  base,  bring  on  a  battle,  defeat  and  pursue  bin 
opponent,  and  dictate  peace  at  Baltimore  or  Washiiig- 
ton. 

Gen.  Lee  may  have  failed,  sometimes,  to  make  the 
best  movements  during  the  progress  of  a  battle;  he 
never  failed  to  adopt  the  greatest,  soundest,  and  most 
comprehensive  combinations  to  bring  on  battle.  Both 
in  1862  and  1863,  he  failed  to  accomplish  his  object. 
But,  study  those  campaigns,  and  the  causes  of  these 
failures  will  be  seen.  It  was  not  that  the  profound 
brain  of  Lee  erred — Providence  interposed,  and  de 
feated  him. 

His  plan  now  was,  first  to  reduce  Harper's  Ferry, 
which  was  held  by  eleven  thousand  men,  with  seventy- 
three  pieces  of  artillery ;  and  Jackson  hai  been  already 
sent  thither,  by  way  of  Boonsboro,'  Williamsport,  and 
Martinsburg  —  thus  taking  the  Ferry  in  rear.  As  soon 
us  this  hornet's  nest  was  destroyed,  he  was  to  push  on 
and  join  Longstreet,  in  the  vicinity  of  Hagerstown ; 
then  the  whole  army,  massed,  would  commence  moving 
toward  the  Cumberland  Valley,  drawing  McClellan 
Coward  Westminster  and  Gettysburg,  as  Meade  was 
drawn  thither  in  the  month  oj  June,  1863. 


SHABP8BUS0. 

Let  tie  turn  now  to  a  circumstance  BO  trifling  that 
it  seems  insignificam,  but  which  overthrew  the  whole 
finmpaign  of  Lee. 

Up  to  the  12th  of  September,  when  McClellan 
reached  Frederick,  that  commander  had  moved  &! 
the  gait  of  the  tortoise.  Cautious  and  deliberate  bj 
organization,  he  was  rendered  still  more  cautious  and 
deliberate  upon  this  occasion  by  the  telegrams  of  his 
superiors,  who  wrote  constantly,  "  Take  care — you  are 
goiiig  too  fast — keep  nearer  the  Potomac  —  Lee  ii 
drawing  you  on  —  only  a  small  part  of  his  army  ia 
north  of  the  Potomac ;  and,  as  soon  as  you  are  far 
enough  away  from  the  capital,  he  will  attack  us  from 
the  Virginia  side,  and  all  will  be  over."  Those  are 
not  the  words  employed  by  Gen.  Halleck,  but  they  ex 
press  the  exact  substance  of  his  orders. 

Thus,  up  to  the  12th,  McClellan  moved  snailwise, 
feeling  for  Lee,  and  in  utter  darkness  as  to  his  plans. 
On  that  day,  however,  he  found  upon  a  table  in  Fred 
erick  City,  where  it  had  been  left  by  the  carelessness 
of  some  officer,  General  Lee's  "  Order  of  March."  That 
order  was  a  complete  revelation  of  Lee's  designs. 

Longstreet  was  to  advance  by  way  of  Boonsboro,'  to 
Hagerstown. 

McLaws  was  to  push  for  Maryland  Heights. 

Walker  was  to  cross  back,  and  hasten  to  Loudouu 
Heights. 

Jackson  was  then  to  storm  and  capture  Harper*! 
Ferry,  hastening  afterwards  to  join  Longstreet. 

Then, the  order  stopped  there.    Nothing  more, 

however,  was  necessary.    Then,  Lee's  army  would  ad 
vance  upon  Pennsylvania. 
11* 


BHARPSBURO. 

Such  were  the  revelations  of  the  Confederate  cam 
paign,  given  in  that  document.  TLat  poor  little  sheet 
of  paper,  which  a  puff  of  wind  would  have  carried 
away,  —  which  a  housewife  might  have  used  to  kiiidla 
her  fire, —  a  soldier  to  light  his  pipe, —  that  little  srrap 
of  paper  would  have  been  cheaply  purchased  by  the 
Federal  commander  at  a  cost  of  a  hundred  millions. 
and  it  cost  nothing.  It  is  true  that  it  cost  Lee  hb 
campaign. 

From  that  moment,  Gen.  McClellan  had  no  longer 
any  fears.  He  could  act  with  energy,  for  he  knew 
what  he  was  doing.  Before,  he  had  advanced  with 
caution,  because  every  step  might  lose  the  capital ;  now 
he  pushed  c  n  with  vigor,  because  Pennsylvania  was  the 
known  object  of  his  opponent.  Every  card  in  the  hand 
of  Lee  was  known ;  his  whole  game  exposed ;  his  com 
binations  defeated  in  advance.  Unless  the  fighting  of 
the  Southern  ariny  changed  the  result,  the  campaigD 
was  as  good  as  decided. 

The  obvious  policy  of  McClellan  was  to  push  vigo 
rously  forward,  break  through  the  passes  of  South 
Mountain,  relieve  Harper's  Ferry,  and  attack  Lee  while 
his  army  was  divided  into  two  parts.  lie  set  about  his 
task  with  rapidity  and  energy ;  that  he  did  not  succeed 
was  not  his  fault.  Human  nerve  conquers  fate  some 
times;  hard  fighting  more  than  makes  up  for  num 
bers.  McClellan  ought  to  have  forced  the  mountain 
passes  on  the  13th.  He  could  not  do  so  until  the  14th. 
Re  ought  to  have  cut  Lee  to  pieces  before  Jackson  a*-- 
rived  He  could  not  come  up  with  him.  He  ought  t/« 
bave  routed  the  Southern  army  on  the  field  of  Sharps- 
burg,  —  and  that  fight,  three  to  one,  was  the  clearer 


8HAHP8BUBO.  137 

drawn  battle  of  history.  The  nerve  of  ;he  Confeder 
ates  more  than  made  up  for  numbers.  We  shall  prove 
that. 

On  the  14th  of  September  the  great  game  of  chess 
had  commenced  in  earnest.  From  that  time  forward 
every  hour  was  to  be  big  with  events :  every  movement 
of  the  adversaries  counted.  McClellan  was  pushing 
after  Lee,  intent  on  relieving  Harper's  Ferry,  and  cut 
ting  his  great  opponent  to  pieces.  The  hard  and  stub 
born  muscle  of  the  Virginian  had  turned  many  a 
sword's  edge,  —  but  it  seemed  that  at  last  the  weapon 
was  heavy  and  sharp  enough  to  accomplish  its  object, 
—  "  to  cut  even  to  the  dividing  asunder  of  the  joints 
and  marrow." 

In  utter  ignorance,  meanwhile,  of  the  great  misfor 
tune  which  had  befallen  him,  Gen.  Lee  was  pressing 
forward  to  the  execution  of  his  pfons,  wondering  doubt 
less  at  the  unwonted  confidence  of  his  adversary,  but 
expecting  to  catch  him  tripping  before  long.  The  Con 
federates  were  in  excellent  spirits ;  jest  and  laughter 
prevailed.  The  cavalry  were  engaged  near  Frederick ; 
where  Hampton  charged  and  captured  a  battery,  but 
the  infantry  were  marching  quietly,  caring  little. 

On  the  evening  of  the  14th,  Lee's  "  Order  of  Harch': 
was  in  full  process  of  accomplishment.  Longstreet  was 
at  Hagerstown  with  the  advance  force  of  the  army. 
D.  II.  Hill  was  holding  the  gap  near  Boonsboro',  and 
a  email  force  was  at  Crampton's ;  Walker  was  on  Lou- 
doun,  and  McLaws  on  Maryland  Heights;  Jackson 
was  south  of  Harper's  Ferrj  and  would  attack  it  at 
early  dawn.  Unless  relieved  that  night,  good-bye  to 


1M  &RARP&BURQ. 

Harper's  Ferry,  its  eleven  thousand  men  and  seventy 
three  cannon. 

Then  began  the  struggle.  McClellan  thundered  In 
front  of  Boonsboro'  and  Crampton's  gaps,  listening 
anxiously  for  the  cannon  of  Jackson.  At  every  §tef 
of  his  advance  — which  the  cavalry,  under  Stuart,  ob 
stinately  opposed  —  the  Federal  commander  fired  signal 
guns,  which  said  to  the  officer  commanding  at  Harper's 
Ferry:  "I  am  coming  1"  Every  hour  he  dispatched 
scouts  to  penetrate  the  lines,  reach  the  Ferry,  and 
say :  "  Hold  on ;  do  not  surrender ;  I  will  soon  release 
you!" 

That  assurance  seemed  reliable.  The  enormous  ad 
vantage  of  knowing  an  adversary's  plans  and  position 
was  never  in  all  the  annals  of  war  better  shown.  With 
Longstreet  at  Hagerstown  and  Jackson  at  Harper's 
Ferry,  McClellan  knew  well  that  his  movements  were 
free, — and  he  pressed  on  with  ardor  to  attain  the  prize. 

Soon  the  thunders  of  an  obstinate  combat  rose  from 
Boonsboro'  gap,  where  Hooker  attacked  Hill,  suc 
ceeded  in  turning  his  flank,  and  at  nightfall  had  vir 
tual  possession  of  the  gap  —  for  which  the  worthy  Gen. 
Reno  and  fifteen  hundred  men,  however,  paid.  At 
the  same  time  an  engagement  took  place  at  Cramp- 
ton's  gap,  nearer  to  the  Potomac,  with  the  same  object 

—  to  break  through  to  the  succor  of  Harper's  Ferry. 
Boonsboro'  was  a  combat  —  division  against  division 

—  the    fight    at  Crampton's  was    a  fiasco.    Federal 
writers  tell  how  Gen.  Franklin's  corps,  with  Slocum's 
division  on  the  right  and  Smith's  division   on    th« 
left,  attacked  "  a  greatly  superior  force  of  Cciif oper 
ates  in  the  pass,  forced  them  np  the  elope,  and  after 


8HA&P8BUKG.  129 

three  hours7  hard  contest  carried  the  crest,  taking  foni 
hundred  prisoners."  The  "  greatly  superior  force " 
thug  assailed  by  two  divisions  was  Colonel  Tom  Mun 
ford,  with  about  two  hundred  dismounted  cavalry,  and 
one  piece  of  artillery.  When  the  three  brigades  of 
General  Cobb  —  all  the  infantry  that  at  any  time  was 
any  where  near  the  gap  —  arrived  from  Maryland 
Heights,  the  crest  had  been  carried,  and  Colonel  Mun- 
ford  was  moving  down  the  west  side  of  the  mountain. 
The  enemy  held  the  gap  —  General  Cobb's  troops  were 
badly  put  in,  and  made  little  fight  —  the  "  four  hun 
dred  prisoners"  were  of  his  command.  The  facts 
stated  here  are  surprising  —  but  they  are  facts.  The 
reports  of  Gen.  Stuart  will  establish  them.  Two  hun 
dred  men  held  in  check  two  divisions. 

When" night  fell  on  the  14th,  McClellan  had  broken 
through  the  mountain  —  or,  to  speak  more  accurately, 
he  held  the  gaps  at  Boonsboro'  and  Crampton's,  ready 
to  march  at  dawn.  At  dawn  he  marched ;  but  sud 
denly  a  long  continuous  thunder  arose  from  Harper's 
Ferry.  Jackson  was  attacking. 

McClellan  pushed  forward;  the  ominous  roar  of 
artillery  continued  without  cessation.  Then  all  at 
once  it  stopped — ror  Jackson  was  preparing  to  storm 
the  works  with  his  infantry.  That  silence  was  worse 
than  the  thunder  of  the  cannon,  and  the  Federal  com 
mander  must  have  comprehended  its  meaning.  In 
fact  Jackson  had  thrown  forward  Fender — the  assault 
had  just  begun — the  men  were  rushing  on  with  shouts 
to  cany  the  Federal  defences  at  the  print  of  the  bay 
onet  —  when  all  at  once  a  white  flag  wat?  seen  to  Hot 
ter  upwn  the  breastworks.  Colonel  Miles  had  £  orren 


180  8HARP8BUBU. 

dered  his  eleven  thousand  men,  toirteen  thonja~d 
stand  of  arms,  and  seventy-three  pieces  of  artillery. 

Harper's  Ferry  had  fallen. 

Fallen  at  the  moment  when  McClellan  was  only  * 
short  march  from  it,  with  almost  nothing  between  -  • 
at  the  moment  when  Miles  could  almost  hear  the 
shouts  of  the  troops  coming  to  his  relief ;  when  in  a 
few  hours  McLaws,  on  Maryland  Heights,  would  have 
been  captured  ;  Jackson  would  have  been  cnt  off  from 
a  junction  with  the  main  body,  and  Lee  would  have 
been  defeated  or  driven  across  the  Potomac. 

At  that  supreme  moment,  when  victory  and  failure 
were  suspended  in  the  balance,  the  heavy  arm  of  Jack 
son  fell.  "  Too  late "  was  written,  as  in  words  of 
flame,  against  the  Southern  sky,  toward  which  the 
Federal  commander  gazed.  Soon  he  knew  that  his 
second  and  greatest  aim  was  in  like  manner  defeated. 

Lee  had  fallen  back  with  Hill,  by  way  of  Boons- 
boro',  toward  Sharpsburg ;  Longstreet  was  summoned 
to  the  same  point  from  Hagerstown. 

On  the  morning  of  the  16th,  when  McClellan,  push 
ing  forward,  had  reached  the  Antietam,  opposite 
Sharpsburg,  he  had,  there  in  front  of  him,  on  the 
hills  beyond  the  stream,  both  Longstreet  and  Jackson 
—  returned  from  Hagerstown  and  Harper's  Ferry. 
The  two  halves  of  the  army  were  once  more  united- 
Lee  wis  massed  and  ready  to  deliver  battle. 

Such  were  the  strategic  movements  which  culmin 
ated  in  the  obstinately  disputed  battle  of  Sharpsburg, 
or  Antietam,  as  it  is  called  by  writers  of  the  North, 
They  have  been  noticed  at  some  lengtn,  being  essen 
tial  to  a  proper  understanding  of  the  action. 


8HARP8BUBG. 

Harper's  Ferry  had  retarded  Lee,  since  he  could  n<y 
leave  that  fortress  in  his  rear;  McClellan  had  ad 
vanced  with  unexpected  rapidity ;  thus  Lee  was  com 
pelled  to  retire  to  Virginia  or  mass  his  army  and  ac 
cept  battle  on  the  north  bank  of  the  Potomac. 

What  force  did  that  army  number,  and  what  were 
the  numbers  of  General  McClellan?  Alas!  little  ii 
left  to  the  South  save  to  show  that  she  made  a  "  good 
fight "  and  died  hard !  Let  us  pause  for  a  moment, 
then,  and  establish  the  truth  upon  this  point.  It  ii 
curious. 

"  We  fought  pretty  close  upon  one  hundred  thous 
and  men,"  said  Gen  McClellan,  when  interrogated  by 
the  War  Committee. 

"  This  great  battle  was  fought  by  less  than  forty 
thousand  men  on  our  side,"  said  Lee,  in  his  report ; 
and  Colonel  Walter  II.  Taylor,  that  high-toned  officer 
and  gentleman,  then  A.  A.  G.  of  the  army,  states  Lee'a 
numbers  at  thirty-seven  thousand  of  all  arms.* 

What  were  Gen.  McClellan's  ? 

"  Our  forces,"  he  says,  "  at  the  battle  of  Antietam, 
were,  total  in  action,  eighty-seven  thousand  one  hun 
dred  and  sixty-four." 

Deduct  "  cavalry  division,  four  thousand  three  hun- 

*  "  OUB  STBENOTH  AT  SHARPSBUBO.  —  I  think  this  is  correct 

Jackson  (including  A.  P.  Hill) 10,000 

Longstreet 18,000 

D.  H.  Hill  and  Walker 7,000 

Effect;-*  infantry 89,000 

Cavalry  and  artillery ., 8,000 

87000 

~M&  Statement  of  job*A  Taylor. 


IftS  SHASPBBUJKk 

dred  and  twenty,"  and  we  have  eighty-two  thousand 
eight  hundred  and  fourty-fonr  Federal  infantry  and 
artillery  in  action. 

Deduct  four  thousand  cavalry  from  Gen,  Lee's  total 
and  we  have  Confederate  infantry  and  artillerj  in  a< 
tion,  thirty-three  thousand. 

Of  these  thirty-three  thousand,  about  eight  thousand 
did  not  arrive  from  Harper's  Ferry  until  the  middle 
of  the  day.  The  hard  fighting  of  the  whole  morning 
was  really  borne  by  about  twenty-five  thousand  in  lino 
of  battle. 

More  still  —  the  main  assault  was  against  the  Con 
federate  left,  where  Jackson,  with  four  thousand,  met 
and  repulsed  forty  thousand. 

PBOOF.  —  Gen.  Jones,  commanding  Jackson's  old  division,  report 
ed:  —  "The  division,  at  the  beginning  of  the  fight,  numbered  not 
over  one  thousand  six  hundred  men." 

And  Early,  commanding  Swell's  division  of  three  brigade*, 
reported: 

Lawton'i  ...................................  1,100 

Hayes'  .....................................     560 

Walker1!  ...................................     700 


Total.,  ......................................  4,000 

On  the  FedenJ  side  it  is  not  denied  that  Hooker's  corps  num 
bered  eighteen  thousand.  At  7  A.  M..  Mansfield  reinforced  >"•«, 
and  at  9,  Sumner.  Of  the  fight  which  ensued,  Gen.  Sumnci 
says:  —  "I  have  always  believed  that  instead  of  sending  these 
troops  into  that  action  in  driblets,  had  Gen.  McClellan  authorized 
me  to  march  these  forty  thousand  on  the  left  flank  of  tna  enemy, 
we  would  not  hare  failed  to  throw  them,"  «fca 


8HARP8BITHO.  133 

*  In  driblets!"  Alas!  what  would  Lee  have 
thought  of  driblets  of  divisions  and  whole  corps !  One 
of  these  driblets  was  eighteen  thousand  n»3n. 

The  truth  is,  that  until  noon  the  Confederates  fought 
more  than  three  to  one;  that  throughout  the  action 
they  were  never  opposed  by  less  than  two  and  a  hall 
to  one ;  that  Jackson,  on  the  left,  remained  unmoved 
for  hours,  though  the  enemy  threw  against  him  ubont 
ten  to  one. 

These  statements  may  be  regarded  as  "  rebel  exag 
gerations."  That  is  not  important ;  they  are  on 
record,  and  history  will  protect  her  own. 

Lee  might  thus  have  retired,  without  imputation 
upon  his  courage  —  might  have  recrossed  into  Virginia 
and  declined  battle.  He  remained  upon  the  soil  of 
Maryland  and  accepted  it. 

Sharpsburg  followed ;  and  this  great  combat  we 
now  proceed  to  trace  in  outline. 

On  the  afternoon  of  the  16th,  Lee  had  about  twenty- 
five  thousand  men  in  line  of  battle,  his  back  to  Sharps- 
burg,  his  left  hand  touching  the  Potomac,  his  right 
extending  into  the  angle  formed  by  the  river  and 
Antietam  creek. 

Sharpsburg  is  a  village,  in  the  midst  of  a  rolling 
country,  dotted  with  farm  houses,  lost  in  orchards; 
fields  divided  by  stone  walls ;  and  through  the  valley 
in  front  of  it  rolls  the  narn  w  and  crooked  Antietam, 
spanned  by  rustic  bridges  or  the  Boonsboro'  and  other 
roads. 

On  the  high  ground  beyond,  at  the  foot  of  the  tnoun- 
teh,  McClellan's  numerous  infantry  and  artillery  were 
If 


184  SOAAP8BUB&. 

drawn  up,  his  main  strength  massed  on  the  right,  tc 
strike  the  Southern  left. 

The  plans  of  a  general  are  more  interesting  than 
the  fighting  of  his  troops.  McClallan's  design  here 
was  to  turn  the  Confederate  left,  driving  Lee  into  the 
river,  and  he  never  ceased  hammering  at  that  "fatal 
left,"  until  his  right  wing  was  nearly  shattered  by  the 
hard  anvil  against  which  this  hammer  struck. 

On  the  evening  of  the  16th,  Hooker,  commanding 
the  Federal  right,  crossed  the  stream  and  gained 
ground,  after  sharp  fighting.  On  the  morning  of  the 
17th,  the  day  of  Sharpsburg,  he  attacked  from  this 
advanced  position. 

At  the  first  streak  of  dawn,  in  the  clear  autumn  sky, 
before  the  variegated  leaves  of  the  forest  trees  were 
reddened  by  sunrise,  the  opposing  lines  began  to  thun 
der. 

Hooker,  with  eighteen  thousand  men,  and  Mans 
field's  corps  hastening  forward  to  support  him,  was 
attacking  the  four  thousand  men  of  Jackson.  The 
woods  reverberated,  the  echoes  rolled  among  the  hills, 
the  fields  were  full  of  the  long  rattle  of  musketry, 
mingled  with  shouts  and  cheers.  Jackson  grappled 
wdth  his  adversary,  and  held  his  ground  so  well  that 
Booker  was  wholly  unable  to  drive  him  back. 

Such  was  the  state  of  things  when,  at  seven  o'clock, 
just  as  the  sun  was  soaring  above  the  mountain  in  his 
rear,  Gen.  Mansfield  arrived  and  threw  his  corps  into 
icticn.  Before  this  great  reinforcement  the  Confed 
erates  were  press-ed  back,  and  a  point  of  woods  be 
yond  the  Hagerstown  road  was  seized  by  the  Federals ; 
not,  however,  without  terrible  loss  aid  disorganization 


8HA8P8BUR&.  18ft 

Jackson's  loss  was  frightful,  but  his  opponents'  worse 
Gen.  Mansfield  was  mortally  wounded ;  Gen.  llookei 
was  shot  and  borne  from  the  field  ;  the  Federal  troopa 
were  breaking  in  spite  of  their  success,  when  the  corpa 
of  Snmner  arrived,  and  was  thrown  forward,  just  in 
time  to  prevent  a  thorough  rout. 

Hear  the  evidence  of  Gen.  Stimner : 

"On  going  upon  the  field,  I  found  that  Gen. 
Hooker's  corps  had  been  dispersed  and  routed.  I 
passed  him,  some  distance  in  the  rear,  where  he  had 
been  carried,  wounded,  but  I  saw  nothing  of  his  corps 
at  all  as  I  was  advancing  with  my  command  on  the 
field.  I  sent  one  of  my  staff  officers  to  find  where 
they  were,  and  Gen.  Kicketts,  the  only  officer  we 
could  find,  stated  that  he  could  not  raise  three  hun 
dred  men  'of  the  corps."* 

Strange  result  of  the  great  assault  of  Hooker  and 
Mansfield,  with  their  thirty  thousand  men,  on  the  four 
thousand  of  Jackson  I 

"  I  saw  nothing  of  his  corps  at  all ! " 

"  He  could  not  raise  three  hundred  men ! " 

It  was  in  reference  to  this  portion  of  the  action  that 
Gen.  Sumner  groaned  out  that  the  troops  were  sent 
in  "  in  driblets  "  —  that  is,  corps  after  corps. 

Such  was  the  result  on  the  Federal  side  —  repulst 
with  terrible  loss ;  Mansfield  killed  ;  Hooker  wound 
ed ;  the  line  breaking.  On  the  Confederate  t,\ Je  the 
mortality  was  truly  frightful.  Gen.  Starke,  command 
ing  Jackson's  division,  "vas  killed ;  more  than  a  half 
of  gome  brigades,  more  than  a  third  of  others,  dir- 

•  lUport  on  Conduct  of  War,  1,  868. 


'88  SHASP8BUBG. 

abled —  Ji  many  regiments  there  wore  almost  nc  oom- 
missioned  officers.  Jackson  had  repulsed  the  great 
assault,  but  the  ground,  on  which  his  firm  foot  yet 
rested,  was  bathed  in  the  best  blood  of  the  South. 

But  this  was  the  mere  preface  —  the  ante-chamber 
to  the  temple  of  horror.  Pausing  only  to  pant  and 
recover  their  breath  after  the  fierce  struggle,  the  Fed 
eral  forces  reformed  their  line ;  cheers  rose  from  the 
great  mass,  and  the  huge  wave  rolled  f oward  —  this 
time  bent  on  enveloping  Jackson's  left  and  driving 
him  back  on  the  centre. 

The  attack  was  met  with  desperation.  Each  soldier 
seemed  to  feel  that  on  his  firmness  depended  the  fate 
of  Gen.  Lee.  Jackson  half  faced  to  the  left  the  two 
small  brigades  of  Hood  — one  of  them  numbering,  he 
says,  but  eight  hundred  and  sixty-four  men — rushed 
forward  and  filled  the  gap  thus  made  on  Jackson's 
right.  In  an  instant  the  fiercest  wrestle  of  the  great 
day  of  Sharpsburg  began,  in  the  midst  of  cheers, 
shouts,  thunder,  and  lightning. 

The  brush  of  a  grand  painter  could  alone  convey 
something  like  a  conception  of  that  wild  grapple.  Jack 
son,  reinforced  by  Hood,  had  now  about  six  thousand 
men  engaged  in  all,  and  these  were  stubbornly  breast 
ing  the  great  rush  of  Hooker,  Mansfield,  and  Sumner. 
The  odds  were  beyond  mortal  endurance.  Worn  out 
and  decimated  l>y  the  very  attrition  of  the  struggle, 
Jackson  was  being  forced  back,  when  McLaws  and 
Walker  at  last  arrived  with  reinforcements;  then 
etoiything  suddenly  changed. 

Never  in  all  the  war  was  the  value  of  ''fresh  troops,* 
however  small  their  number,  more  conclusively  shown 


SHA21PSBUB0.  J«7 

In  the  twinkle  of  an  eye,  the  Southern  lines  were 
reformed  and  ceased  retiring.  Cheers  rose;  stagger 
ing  volleys  followed ;  Jackson's  whole  line  advanced 
with  wild  shouts,  and  drove  the  Federal  line  back. 
Before  he  stopped  the  advance,  Jackson  had  forced 
back  Hooker  more  than  half  a  rnile ;  had  resumed  the 
position  from  which  he  was  driven  in  the  morning; 
then  he  stood  grim  and  defiant,  ready  to  renew  the 
struggle.  The  great  assault  of  McClellan  had  been 
completely  repulsed;  the  battle  of  Sharpsburg  was 
decided. 

This  was  the  grand  conflict  of  the  day,  and  on  the 
left  centred  the  main  interest  —  but  once  or  twice 
affairs  were  critical  on  the  right  and  centre. 

Jackson  had  just  repulsed  his  opponent,  when  an 
accident  occurred  which  nearly  resulted  in  Gen.  Lee's 
destruction. 

In  the  centre  was  Rodes'  brigade,  and, —  during  the 
momentary  absence  of  that  officer,  —  through  a  mis 
conception  of  orders  the  brigade  was  withdrawn.  No 
sooner  had  this  occurred  than  the  Federal  forces 
rushed  forward ;  there  was  nothing  to  meet  them  ;  in 
an  instant  Gen.  Lee's  centre  would  have  been  pierced 
and  his  army  cut  in  two. 

Then,  what  they  wanted  in  numbers,  the  Southern 
ers  made  up  by  reckless  courage.  Gen.  D.  H.  Hill 
galloped  thither,  and  hastily  collected  about  two  hun 
dred  men,  whom  he  led  gallantly  forward.  Miller's 
battery  hastened  up,  unlimbered,  and  opened  a  furious 
fire.  Col.  Cooke,  with  about  three  hundred  men  ff 
his  regiment,  faced  the  masses  rushing  on,  "standing 
boldly  in  line,"  says  Gen.  Lee,  "  without  a  catriJge." 
W* 


188  8HARPSBUB0. 

Then  a  curious  spectacle  was  presented  to  the  sol 
diers  of  both  armies.  Lieut.  Gen.  IK1  was  seen  lead 
ing  against  the  enemy  a  force  of  tw  D  hundred  men; 
cheering  them  them  on  in  person.  Lieut.  Gen.  Long- 
street  was  seen  on  foot,  loading  and  firing  a  piece  oi 
artillery. 

The  Federal  division  of  Gen.  Richardson,  imposed 
upon  by  this  bold  front,  came  to  a  halt  and  remained 
stationery  until  Lee  had  filled  the  gap. 

So,  the  centre  was  saved. 

On  the  right,  there  was  also  a  moment  of  extreme 
peril.  Let  us  briefly  relate  how  things  stood  there  and 
what  was  done. 

Nearly  east  of  Sharpsburg,  was  a  bridge  over  the 
Antietam.  On  the  heights  above  this  bridge  rested 
the  right  of  Lee;  opposite,  across  the  stream,  were 
drawn  up  the  fifteen  thousand  men  of  Burnside,  with 
Porter  at  his  back. 

This  force  was  held  in  reserve,  for  "  eventualities ' 
came  soon  after  sunrise,  when  Hooker  could  not  ad 
vance. 

Then  McClellan  argued  and  acted  like  a  good  sol 
dier.  That  stubborn  stand  on  the  left  must  mean  thai 
I.iee  had  massed  his  main  force  there,  leaving  the  righf 
wing  weak.  Burnside  was  thereupon  ordered,  at  eight 
o'clock,  to  pass  the  bridge,  and  immediately  assail  the 
Southern  right. 

At  half -past  eight  he  had  not  moved;  not  at  nine. 
McClellau  sent  new  orders  and  more  urgent  ones,  for 
the  combat  on  his  right  was  going  against  h; n,  and  a 
diversion  was  absolutely  necessary.  Stil] 


SHARPS3UJSO.  139 

did  not  move  —  at  ten  he  was  still  there ;  at  twelve  he 
had  not  passed  the  Antietam. 

Meanwhile,  Lee  had  acted.  He  had  thrown  Walter 
and  McLaws  from  the  right,  to  Jackson's  relief  — 
leaving  only  the  two  thousand  five  hundred  men  of 
Qen.  Jones  opposite  Burnside. 

That  officer  finally  advanced  across  the  bridge  about 
noon,  and  "moved  with  such  extreme  caution  and 
Blcwness"  toward  Lee's  right,  that  he  did  not  attack 
the  crest  where  it  rested  until  three  o'clock. 

Then  he  stormed  the  crest  and  planted  his  artillery 
upon  it;  but  the  delay  had  ruined  everything.  Just 
as  the  crest  was  carried,  A.  P.  Hill  arrived  from  Har 
per's  Ferry  with  two  thousand  men.*  Adding  these 
to  the  two  thousand  five  hundred  of  Jones,  driven 
back  from  the  crest,  with  this  force  of  four  thousand 
five  hundred  he  attacked  Burnside  in  turn,  driving 
back  to  the  bridge  his  fifteen  thousand  troops,  and 
terminating  the  day  upon  the  right  of  the  field  as 
Jackson  had  terminated  it  upon  the  left. 

It  was  at  this  moment  that  McClellan,  seeing  Burn- 
side  driven  back,  sent  him  word,  it  is  said : 

"  Hold  your  ground !  If  you  cannot,  then  the  bridge 
te  the  last  man !  Always  the  bridge !  If  the  bridge 
io  lost,  all  is  lost ! " 

The  defeat  of  Burnside  was  so  decisive,  that  the 
moment  was  indeed  full  of  peril.  But  night  came  to 
stop  an  advance. 

*  It  was  now  nearly  dark,"  says  Gen.  Lee,  "  and  the 
enemy  had  massed  a  number  of  batteries  to  sweep  the 

•Reports  Army  N.  Va,  VoL  8,  129. 


140  SHAXPBBUEQ. 

approaches  to  the  Antietam,  on  the  opposite  side  .  I 
which  the  corps  of  Gen.  Porter,  which  had  not  been 
engaged  now  appeared  t~  dispute  our  advance.  Under 
these  circumstances,  it  was  deemed  injudicious  to  push 
our  advantage  further." 

Night  descended  —  the  thunder  ceased  —  the  great 
pall  of  darkness  fell  over  the  bloody  field,  covered 
with  the  dying  and  the  dead. 

McClellan  was  repulsed  —  thus  victory  belonged  to 
Lee. 

Such  was  Sharpsburg,  one  of  the  most  desperate  and 
sanguinary  struggles  of  the  war.  We  have  en 
deavored  to  describe  it  with  the  impartiality  of  truth 
itself  —  and  no  statement  has  been  made  which  the 
record  will  not  vouch  for. 

As  to  the  numbers,  the  statements  rest  upon  the 
words  of  Lee  and  Jackson ;  and  it  is  not  probable  that 
the  world  will  doubt  them. 

That  with  a  force  so  small  Lee  could  repulse  an 
army  so  large  as  his  opponent's,  is  due  to  two  simple 
facts : 

I.  The  troops  Vere  maneuvered  with  a  foresight 
and  promptness  which  characterize  only  the  greatest 
generals  of  history. 

II.  The  men  were  the  veterans  of  the  old  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia ;  were  officered  by  Jackson,  Long- 
street,  and  Hill ;  and  fought  as  the  three  hundred  of 
Leonidas  fought  at  Thermopylae — ready  to  die,  but 
not  to  surrender. 

Taken  altogether,  that  fight  on  the  left  was  one  of 
the  most  astonishing  of  any  war — for  four  thousand 
stood  for  hours  against  thirty  or  forty  thousand, 


8HARP&BUB0.  lil 

more  than  once  drove  them  back  in  discj-dei.  Hlll'i 
repulse  of  Burnside,  four  to  one,  on  the  right,  was  glori 
ous — but  Burnside  died  easy.  Jackson's  repulse  of 
Hooker,  ten  to  one,  was  grand — for  Hooker  died  hard. 
That  combat  indeed  brought  back  the  ^ld  ages  of 
mythology.  This  Titan  stood  erect,  strong  and  defiant 
if  not  unscathed,  when  the  whole  magazine  of  thunder 
bolts  had  been  exhausted  upoi>  him. 

On  the  next  day,  Gen.  Lee  remained  in  line  of 
battle,  awaiting  another  attack ;  but  none  was  made. 
The  Federal  loss  "  and  disorganization,"  says  Gen. 
McClellan,  prevented  it  on  that  day. 

On  the  morning  of  the  next,  Lee  had  recrossed  the 
Potomac,  to  supply  his  army  with  rations  and  ammuni 
tion.  His  opponent  attempted  to  follow,  and  was 
Iriven  into  the  river. 

So  the  Maryland  campaign  ended. 

In  October,  Gen.  Halleck  telegraphed  to  McClellan: 

"  Cross  the  Potomac,  and  give  battle  to  the  enemy, 
or  drive  him  south." 

McClellan  crossed,  and  at  Warrenton  was  "  relieved 
from  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac." 

Hapless  McClellan !  It  was  harsh.  Lee  would 
have  annihilated  the  "whipped  army  "  of  the  Potomac 
retreating  to  Malvern  Hill  "  like  a  parcel  of  sheep."* 
McClelland  cool  generalship  saved  it.  Lee  would 
ha\?  gone  to  Pennsylvania,  and  advanced  to  Philadel 
phia —  McClellan  organized  Pope's  remnants,  ad- 
•'ancud,  and  fought,  and  drove  his  adversary  from 

"  See  testimony  of  Gen.  Hooker  (Conduct  of  War,  1, 580)  foi 
these  strong  expressions.  "A  few  shots  from  the  rebels,"  said 
(Jen.  Hooker,  '•  would  have  panic-stricken  the  whole  command." 


149  SHARP8BU&G. 

Maryland.  Leo  would  have  recrossei  in  October-— 
McClellan  stopped  him,  and  by  advancing  into  Virginia 
foree«i  his  great  foe  to  fall  back  Richmonward.  And 
after  all  these  services,  the  axe  fell. 

"  Off  with  Ilia  head !  So  much  for  Buckingham !  " 
Gen.  McClellan  received  the  fatal  order  while  con 
versing,  in  his  tent,  near  Warrenton,  with  Gen.  Burn- 
side.  Ilis  countenance  did  not  change,  and  in  a  voice 
as  calm  as  a  May  morning,  he  said,  handing  the  papei 
to  his  companion : 

"  Well,  Bumside,  you  are  to  command  the  army." 
Never  was  a  more  singular  freak  of  destiny.  The 
officer  who  had  failed  to  cross  the  Antietam  and  drive 
back  Hill's  four  thousand  five  hundred,  with  his  fifteen 
thousand,  at  Sharpsburg,  was  now  to  cross  the  Rappa- 
hannock  and  drive  back  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia,  under  Lee. 

Of  that  appointment  one  might  have  said:  —  "It 
will  not  and  it  cannot  come  to  good."  But  the  fiat 
had  gone  forth. 

McClellan  set  oat  for  New  Jersey.  Burnside  com 
meaced  his  march  toward  —  Frederbkslurg. 


VI 

FKEDKRICK8BUBO 

IN  December,  1862,  the  Army  of  Northern  V  uginia 
was  holding  the  heights  south  of  Fredericksburg. 

At  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  on  the  llth  of  that 
month,  the  troops  were  waked  from  slumber  by  a  sin 
gle  gun,  which  sent  its  warning  voice  across  the 
gloom. 

Then  this  first  discharge  was  followed  by  another, 
and.  the  men  sprung  to  arms ;  the  camps  buzzed  ;  line 
of  battle  was  formed  —  all  along  the  crest,  from 
Marye's  Hill  down  to  Hamilton's  Crossing,  the  army 
stood  ready. 

The  moment  had  come;  for  those  two  cannon, 
suddenly  thundering  in  the  cold  night-watches,  were 
signal  guns.  Through  their  bronze  mouths,  Lee  said 
to  his  men : 

"  Get  ready  !    The  enemy  are  crossing ! " 

Soon,  from  the  direction  of  Fredericksburg,  came 
the  quick  rattle  of  musketry.  Something  of  interest 
was  evidently  going  on  there.  Gen.  Lee  was  soon  in 
the  saddle,  and  couriers,  passing  at  a  swift  gallop,  like 
phantoms  through  the  darkness,  brought  him  intelli 
gence  from  the  front. 

In  fact,  Gen.  Burnmde  was  making,  at  last  his  great 

(148) 


adv&noe  to  storm  the  heights  on  the  \  irginia  tide  oi 
of  the  Kappahannock.  Knowing  well  the  mettle  of 
his  great  opponent,  Lee — honestly  distrusting  his  ab'l- 
ity  to  command  so  large  an  army* — utterly  opposed 
to  a  decisive  trial  of  strength  at  this  time  and  place — 
Burnside  had  yet  been  pushed  forward  by  hk  Govern 
ment  ;  ordered  to  strike ;  and  on  the  morning  of  this 
day  of  December,  1862,  he  was  obeying. 

All  the  night  of  the  10th,  pontoons  were  being  hailed 
down  to  the  stream,  at  Fredericksburg  and  below  ;  at 
three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  as  we  have  seen,  the  sig- 
aal  guns  of  Lee  announced  that  the  boats  were  being 
lashed  together  to  cross  over  the  army. 

At  the  town,  took  place  the  main  effort  to  impedt 
the  movement.  The  river  street  was  lined  with  Barks 
dale's  Mississippians,  and  no  sooner  had  they  heard 
the  rattle  of  timbers  and  the  hum  of  busy  workmen, 
through  the  dense  fog  on  the  stream,  than  every  man 
was  on  the  alert.  The  Federal  pontoneers  worked 
like  beavers  in  the  gloom,  knowing  the  peril  they  were 
exposed  to — and  soon  their  expectations  were  realized. 
A  sudden  storm  of  bullets  hissed  through  the  mist ;  the 
foremost  workmen  fell  dead  or  mortally  wounded,  ana 
the  rest  recoiled  before  the  unseen  enemy. 

Time  after  time  the  effort  was  renewed,  but  always 
tho  fire  of  the  Mississippians  drove  back  the  boat 
builders.  One,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six  hours  passed 
with  no  better  success — when,  in  a  rage,  doubtless,  at 
this  ill-fortune,  Gen.  Burnside,  at  ten  o'clock,  opened 

•  "  1  told  them  that  1  was  not  competent  to  command  such  a  large 
army  aa  this.  I  had  said  the  same  over  and  over  again  to  the  Pre 
sident  and  Secretary  of  War. "  —  Burnside  in  Conduct  of  War,  1, 650. 


FREDE3JCK8BUR7. 


on  the  town  with  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  .i 
of  artillery. 

Then,  as  though  driven  from  the  field  by  th:s  tre 
mendous  cannonade,  the  fog  rose,  drifted  off,  and  die 
appeared.  From  an  eminence,  jutting  out  from  the 
crest  of  hills  on  which  his  army  was  drawn  up,  Gen, 
Lee  looked  in  silence  at  the  curious  and  tragic  spec 
tacle. 

On  the  hills  beyond  the  river  were  seen  long  rows  of 
Federal  cannon,  grim  and  sullen,  or  spouting  smoke 
and  flame.  Every  instant  came  the  quick,  red  glare, 
the  bellowing  roar,  and  the  burst  of  shell  above  the 
devoted  town. 

Fredericksburg  was  being  bombarded  —  racked  right 
and  left  with  a  cross-fire  of  shot  and  shell.  This  hurri 
cane  of  death  swept  through  the  streets,  incessant,  re 
morseless,  never  relaxing  in  its  fury.  Houses  crashed 
down  ;  the  church  steeples  shook  and  tottered,  as  shot 
tore  them  ;  women  and  children  ran  for  life,  pursued 
by  bursting  shell  ;  flames  rose,  and  a  great  clond  of  lu 
rid  smoke  drifted  away,  mingling  itself  with  the  snowy 
cannon  smoke  on  the  Stafford  hills. 

When,  at  noon,  the  cannonade  ceased,  the  town  was 
on  fire  in  many  places,  and  long  after  night  the  red 
flames  of  burning  mansions  contended  with  the  dark 
ness,  rendering  wilder  and  more  weird  the  sombre 
scene  of  destruction.  At  intervals  only,  a  single  gun 
roared  sullenly  from  the  northern  hills,  like  a  wild 
beast  growling  over  his  prey. 

Soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  cannonade,  another 
attempt  was  made  to  throw  the  pontoons  over,  but  it 
failed  again.    Barksdale  had  not  retreated  ;  amid  crash 
IS 


FRBDdRICSSBUBG. 


ing  chimneys  ana  houses  thundering  de-am,  his  uen  efiU 
stood  —  and  every  effort  of  the  P'ederal  troops  to  I°-y 
their  bridges  was  defeated.  It  was  only  in  the  after 
noon  that  a  brave  officer  of  the  Northern  army  threw 
across  three  regiments  in  barges.  These  advanced  ; 
assailed  Barksdale  furiously  ;  drove  him  from  the 
plane  ;  then  the  pontoon  bridge  was  rapidly  laid,  and 
tho  head  of  Burnside's  column  was  at  once  thrown 
over. 

The  cruel  bombardment  did  not  effect  that  —  it 
effected  absolutely  nothing.  It  was  the  three  regi 
ments  in  barges,  which  a  third  lieutenant,  without  a 
beard  on  his  face,  would  have  sent  across  twelve  hours 
before. 

Lee,  wrapped  hi  his  old  gray  riding  cape,  looked  on, 
as  we  ha^e  said,  from  the  spot  now  called  "  Lee's  Ilill," 
near  the  telegraph  road,  and  beside  him  stood  Long- 
etreet,  stout,  heavily  bearded,  and  calm,  like  his  com 
mander.  It  was  hard  to  realize,  looking  at  these  un 
moved  faces,  that  the  Virginian  and  the  Carolinian  were 
witnessing  the  destruction  of  one  of  the  oldest  and  most 
hospitable  of  Virginian  cities. 

If  any  one  doubts  the  extent  of  that  destruction,  let 
him  go  thither,  as  the  present  writer  did,  the  other  day, 
and  look  at  the  long  rows  of  ruins,  the  ghost-like  chim 
neys,  the  blackened  walls,  and  the  river  facade  of  the 
Louses  riddled  with  cannon  balls.  In  one  small  house 
I  counted  fifty.  And  the  fact  is  not  surprising.  In 
two  hours,  Gen.  Burnside  had  fired  seven  thousand 
three  hundred  and  fifty  rounds  upon  the  town. 

So,  on  that  night  of  December  the  llth,  Fredericks- 
burg  was  torn  to  pieces  —  the  shattered  church  spiral 


PRBD&RICKSBUE6.  147 

shone  in  the  light  of  roaring  flames — the  random  gUBS 
from  the  "  Chatham  "  hill  bellowed  son.  bre  and  trium 
phant  over  all. 

Throughout  the  night,  and  all  day  on  the  12th,  Gen. 
Bnrnside  was  crossing.  It  was  a  very  striking  spectft 
cle,  viewed  from  the  summit  of  Lee's  Hill — There 
Gen.  Lee,  as  before,  stood,  looking  on  in  silence.  Op 
posite  the  pontoon  bridge  were  seen  the  heavy  and 
dark  masses  of  the  Federal  infantry,  about  to  cross. 
The  great  columns  undulated  as  they  moved  down 
from  the  hills,  like  gigantic  serpents,  with  glittering 
bayonets  and  gun-barrels  for  scales.  Above  them  ban 
ners  waved — through  the  clear  December  air  came 
the  notes  of  the  drum  and  bugle ;  you  could  even  hear 
the  rumble  of  the  artillery — those  bronze  war-dogs,  in 
whose  mouths  the  thunder  slumbered.  All  day,  as  we 
have  said,  the  Federal  forces  were  crossing,  with  little 
opposition. 

On  the  night  of  the  12th,  the  army  was  over,  and  it 
was  evident  that  on  the  next  day  Gen.  Bnrnside  would 
deliver  battle,  by  advancing  to  storm  the  position  occu 
pied  by  Lee. 

What  was  that  position,  and  what  the  character  of 
the  ground  upon  which  was  fought  this  bloody  action? 
Let  us  look  at  it.  Battles  are  mazes,  without  some 
knowledge  of  the  localities.  Let  us  take  our  stand  on 
the  eminence  called  Lee's  Hill,  which  juts  out  from 
the  crest,  commanding  a  full  view  of  all.  Beneath  us 
stretches  a  plain  extending  to  the  Rappahannock.  Be 
yond  the  plain  the  roofs  and  spires  of  Fredericksburg 
are  seen,  not  a  mile  away.  On  the  northern  shoreb  of 
the  river,  rise  lofty  hills,  crowned  with  white 


148 


In  front  of  these  mansions,  flags  are  seen  to  flutter  — 
they  indicate  the  head-quarters  of  some  Federal  general 
A.l<^iig  the  hills  dusky  objects  dot  the  crest  —  they  are 
iianuon.  Through  the  gorges  you  see  dark  and  motion 
less  masses  —  they  are  Federal  infantry,  waiting  for  the 
order  to  advance. 

That  oflicer  on  horseback  yonder,  slowly  pacing 
along  the  hills,  is  perhaps  Gen.  Burnside,  reconnoiter- 
ing.  Those  specks  upon  the  river  banks  are  pickets. 
Behind  the  hill  yonder,  something  stands  which  you 
cannot  make  out  —  it  is  a  pontoon  train  ready  to  move. 

Let  us  look  now  at  the  southern  shore.  To  the  right 
and  left  of  us  stretches  the  wooded  crest  upon  which 
Gen.  Lee  has  drawn  up  his  line  of  battle.  On  the  left, 
extending  from  his  centre  to  the  river  above,  is  Long 
street's  line,  embattled,  ready,  and  bristling  yonder  on 
the  summit  of  Marye's  Hill,  with  grim-looking  cannon. 
There  the  Irish  brigade  is  going  to  charge  with  mag 
nificent  elan,  and  strew  the  fatal  field  in  front  of  that 
stone  wall,  at  the  foot  of  the  hill,  with  their  bodiea 
On  the  right  is  Jackson,  holding  the  wooded  crest  to 
the  point  at  Hamilton's  Crossing,  where  it  sinks  intc 
the  plain.  A.t  every  opening  in  his  line  you  see  the 
muzzles  of  cannon  ;  on  the  hi'  1  above  the  crossing, 
which  the  men  are  going  to  call  "  Dead  Horse  Hill," 
he  has  massed  his  batteries,  to  rake  the  field  before 
him  when  the  enemy  rush  forward  there,  as  it  is  evi 
dent  they  will.  Still  further,  on  the  right,  in  the  great 
plain  reaching  to  the  Massaponnax,  Stuart  is  visible 
with  his  guns  —  not  with  his  cavalry,  fie  has  recoc 
noitc  red  tho  whole  ground  ;  found  the  fields  intersected 
by  deep  ditches,  with  long  rows  of  cedars  lining  them, 


VBBDBWCKSBURtt. 

wid  esvalry  cannot  operate  there.  Tl  j  horsemen  ac 
curding!  j  a?  3  drawn  up  in  the  woods,  on  the  flank  — 
Stuart  is  going  to  mass  thirty  pieces  of  artillery  in  that 
field,  and  open  a  furious  lire  on  the  Federal  left  as  they 
charge  the  slopes  of  "  Dead  Horse  Hill." 

Thus  the  Confederate  position  is  powerful  enough, 
giving  many  advantages.  But  the  enemy  have  some, 
too.  On  the  banks  of  the  river  yonder  are  steep  bluffs, 
under  which  they  can  find  shelter  from  the  shot  and 
shell ;  in  the  numerous  ditches,  lined  with  cedars,  they 
will  have  the  best  possible  rifle-pits  from  which  to  fire 
upon  the  cannoneers  of  Stuart.  If  the  Southern  lines 
advance  too  far  into  the  plain,  the  dusky  objects  yon 
der,  on  the  heights  across  the  river,  which  are  "  thirty- 
pound  Parrotts,"  will  sweep  the  whole  field,  tearing 
men,  horses,  and  guns  to  pieces  with  their  iron  thun 
derbolts. 

As  long,  however,  as  Lee  holds  his  position  upon  the 
heights,  there  can  be  small  doubt  of  the  result,  Hu 
manly  speaking,  he  cannot  be  driven  from  the  ground. 
His  fifty  thousand  muskets  can  hold  it  forever.  Thrice 
.Kurnside's  force  can  make  no  impression,  and  the  proof 
is  that  one-third  of  Lee's  is  going  to  repulse  him  with 
out  difficulty , 

The  situation  must  have  looked  ugly  to  the  Federal 
commander,  but  he  did  not  seem  to  realize  its  full  sig 
nificance.  He  must  have  seen  that  to  advance  across 
that  fatal  plain  would  cost  him  rivers  of  blood ;  that 
Lee's  position  here  was  twice  as  strong  as  that  at  Sharps- 
burg,  and  his  army  twice  as  numerous  as  then — and  yet, 
in  spite  of  all,  in  the  very  teeth  of  fate.  Gen.  Burnside 
teamed  determined  tr  risk  all ;  to  advance  acroea  that 


IK)  FSSDERIVKbAUBG. 

plain,  and  to  butt,  bull-like,  against  this  fortress,  brist 
ling  with  bayonets  and  cannon.  How  to  attack  and 
fight  a  successful  battle  there  would  have  puzzled 
Napoleon.  It  is  difficult  to  say  what  that  great  master 
of  the  art  of  war  would  have  done  upon  the  occasion ; 
but  it  may  be  declared  with  absolute  certainty  that  he 
would  not  have  done  what  Gen.  Burnside  did.  Some 
where — either  on  the  right  or  the  left  —  the  Emperor 
would  have  massed  his  battalions,  and  launched  half 
his  force  at  Lee,  with  the  fury  of  an  avalanche  which 
bursts  through  every  obstacle.  Instead  of  adopting 
this,  the  only  plan  which  promised  success,  Gen.  Burn 
side  ordered  assaults  to  be  made  on  the  right  and  left 
with  single  divisions.  These  two  divisions  it  was 
hoped,  would  be  able  to  break  through  the  veteran 
corps  of  Longstreet  and  Jackson  I 

Does  any  reader  say  that  this  statement  is  absurd  ? 
The  truth  is  of  record.  In  that  great  "  open  sesame  " 
to  all  hidden  things,  "  The  Report  on  the  Conduct  of 
the  War,"  the  facts  are  recorded.  Gen.  Burnside 
himself  convicts  himself  of  fatal  ignorance  of  the 
ground — of  a  terrible  misapprehension  of  the  obsta 
cles  in  his  path. 

The  proof  is  given. 

"  The  enemy,"  said  Gen.  Burnside,*  "  had  cut  a 
road  along  in  the  rear  of  the  line  of  heights  where  we 
made  our  attack.  ...  I  obtained  from  a  colored 
man,  from  the  other  side  of  the  town,  information 
in  regard  to  this  new  road  which  proved  to  be  correct. 
I  wanted  to  obtain  possession  of  that  new  road,  and 

•  taubut  of  War,  Part  L,  pp.  668. 


WSEDERIOXSBUSO.  1W 

that  was  my  reason  for  making  an  attack  on  the  ex 
treme  left.  .  .  .  Then  I  purposed  to  make  a  direct 
attack  on  their  front,  and  drive  them  out  of  their 
works." 

That  is  to  say,  that  the  little  "  Mine  Road  "  running 
in  rear  of  Gen.  Lee's  right  wing,  presented  itself  to 
General  Burnside's  imagination,  after  talking  with  the 
"  colored  man,"  as  a  great  military  highway,  cut  by 
his  opponent,  connecting  his  wings,  and  constituting 
the  key  of  his  position.  To  gain  possession  of  that 
mere  bridle  path  appeared  to  him  a  matter  of  the  first 
importance,  and  a  division  was  sent  to  drive  Jackson 
from  in  front  of  it ! 

Proof  —  the  order  of  Gen.  Burnside,  December  13, 
5.55  A.  M.,  to  General  Franklin,  on  his  left.*  "  Send 
out  at  once  a  division  at  least  .  .  to  seize,  if  possi 
ble,  the  heights  near  Captain  Hamilton's." 

Fatal  Order  No.  1 ! —  The  "  heights  near  Captain 
Hamilton's  "  were  the  hills  upon  which  Jackson  was 
drawn  up  with  his  triple  line  of  bayonets,  and  his  ar 
tillery  waiting  to  do  the  terrible  work  it  did  do. 

In  the  same  manner  Lee's  left,  at  Marye's  Hill,  wai 
to  be  assailed,  and  driven  back  —  by  a  division. 

Proof — the  same  order,  announcing  Burnside's  di 
rections  to  Gen.  Sumner  on  his  right.  "He  (Burn- 
aide)  has  ordered  another  column,  of  a  division  or 
more,  to  be  moved  from  Gen.  Sumner's  command 
up  the  Plank  Road  to  its  intersection  with  the  Tele 
graph  Road,  where  they  will  divide,  with  the  object 
of  seizing  the  heights  on  both  of  those  roada." 

*  Conduct  of  War,  Part  L,  p.  701. 


162  WREDEWCKBBmtG. 

Fatal  Order  No.  2 ! — The  "  Plank  Road  "  led  straight 
into  the  muzzles  of  Longstreet's  cannon,  on  Marye's 
Hill  —  "  the  heights  "  in  question.  The  point  of  "  in 
tersection  with  the  Telegraph  Road  "  was  the  localitv 
of  that  sombre,  fatal,  terrible  stone  wall,  lined  with 
Southern  marksmen,  in  front  of  which  the  divisions  oi 
French,  Hancock,  and  Humphreys,  charged  so  splen 
didly,  and  were  torn  to  pieces  by  the  concentrated  fire 
of  small  arms  and  artillery  hurled  upon  them  within 
point  blank  range,  as  they  uselessly  rushed  to  their 
death. 

"  Holding  these  heights,  with  the  heights  near  Cap 
tain  Hamilton's,"  adds  General  Burnside's  order, "  will, 
I  hope,  compel  the  enemy  to  evacuate  the  whole  ridge 
between  these  points."  If  not,  then,  as  he  says  in  his 
testimony,  "  I  proposed  to  make  a  direct  attack  OB 
their  front,  and  drive  them  out  of  their  works." 

Such  was  the  programme  of  operations  adopted  by 
Gen.  Burnside.  It  cannot  be  said  to  be  mis-stated, 
for  it  is  given  on  the  authority  of  his  general  order, 
and  iis  own  testimony.  He  proposed  to  assault  the 
two  powerful  positions  at  Marye's  Hill  and  Hamilton's 
Crossing,  with  a  division  at  a  time,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  it  was  done.  Gen.  Meade,  coniinanding  the  as 
saulting  force  at  Hamilton's,  says  he  had  in  all  only 
ten  thousand  men  engaged.  In  -eserve,  looking  on, 
were  the  forty-five  or  fifty  thousand  men  of  Frank 
lin.* 

From  the  moment  when  Gen    Sumner,  command- 


•  Bee  the  testimony  of  Gen.  Meade.     Franklin's  force,  in  all,  h* 
WM  "fifty-fire  or  sixty  thousand  men." 


Ing  the  two  corps  of  the  Right  Giand  Division,  and 
Gen.  Franklin,  commanding  the  two  corps  of  the 
Left  Grand  Division,  received  that  order  to  attack  in 
driblets,  they  must  have  felt  that  all  was  over.  This 
Gibraltar  was  going  to  be  pelted  with  popguns,  when 
a  battering  ram,  and  a  heavy  one,  was  needed.  Why 
this  frightful  blunder  ?  The  explanation  is  not  diffi 
cnlt.  Gen.  Burnside  had  estimated  his  own  powers 
with  singular  justice.  What  his  government  regarded 
as  unfounded  self-depreciation  was  really  modest,  good 
sense.  He  was  painfully  unequal  to  the  arduous  work 
which  the  authorities  had  thrust  upon  him.  lie  did 
his  best,  but  that  best  was  bad  indeed.  The  annala  of 
war  contain  no  Sunder  greater  than  that  attack  at 
Fredericksburg. 

But  it  is  time  to  terminate  this  tedious  preface — 
tedious,  but  necessary.  For  the  rest,  it  diminishes  the 
lustre  of  the  Southern  triumph — this  exposition  of  the 
military  deficiencies  of  the  Federal  commander.  The 
troops  did  their  part,  and  did  it  well.  They  fought 
with  admirable  dash  and  courage,  until  they  found 
what  a  cul-de-sac  they  had  been  thrust  into  ;  then  they 
sullenly  refused  to  charge  again,  tired  of  a  farce  ao 
bloody. 

But  it  was  not  a  farce ;  it  was  a  tragedy.  Of  that 
the  reader  shall  judge. 

At  midnight  of  the  12th  December,  this,  then,  was 
the  position  of  the  adversaries.  Lee  was  on  the  wooded 
heights  with  Longstreet  commanding  his  left,  Jackson 
his  right  —  waiting.  Burnside  was  on  the  plain  upon 
the  river's  bank,  and  in  the  town — Sumner  command' 
ing  hia  right,  Franklin  his  left,  Hooker  hi*  centre,  in 


154  FREDEHCESBUItQ. 

reserve,  beyond  the  river.  From  the  gray  lines  pe>\lut 
in  the  woods  of  the  west  no  sound  came.  From  the 
blue  multitude  rose  a  hum,  a  buzz,  a  murmur,  harsh 
and  threatening.  Arms  clashed,  horses  neighed,  ar 
tillery  rumbled — above  all  rang,  from  time  to  time, 
the  metallic  vibrations  of  the  bugle. 

TLe  force  of  Burnside  was  somewhat  more  thar 
one  hundred  thousand  muskets.*  Lee  numbered  about 
fifty  thousand  bayonets  in  all.  The  odds  were  thus 
two  to  one  about. 

Of  the  morale  of  the  Northern  army,  the  present 
writer  knows  nothing.  The  ragged  veterans  of  Lee 
were  joyful.  Never  had  the  old  army  of  Northern 
Virginia  been  in  better  trim  for  an  obstinate,  dash 
ing  tight.  The  troops  were  all  bone  and  muscle  — 
every  eye  laughed  —  victory  seemed  to  hover  in  the 
air  above  them,  and  salute  them  in  advance.  All 
day  they  had  laughed  and  jested ;  they  were  now  at 
midnight  sleeping  on  their  arms,  awaiting,  without 
care,  that  dawn  which  would  unchain  the  thunder. 

At  the  first  dim  intimation  of  the  coming  day, 
•een  through  the  fog  which  wrapped  all  the  land 
scape,  the  woods  began  to  buzz.  Every  man  clutched 
his  gun.  Then  cheers  were  heard  resounding  in  the 
underwood  along  the  slope  near  Hamilon's  Grossing. 
Lee  was  passing  in  front  of  the  lines  accompanied 
by  Jackson  and  Stuart. 

These  three  men  were,  par  excellence,  the  viri  U- 

•  "Chn.  Franklin  had  now  with  him  about  one-half  the  wholf 
*nnj,"  says  a  Federal  writer.  "  That  force,"  says  Gen,  Meada 
t;  amounted  to  from  fifty  fie  thousand  to  sixty  thousand  men."  • 
imd  ef  War,  1,  691. 


TFREDERICKSBURQ.  Iftt 

lustra  yf  the  Southern  army.  There  were  others  whose 
figures  will  live  forever  on  canvas,  in  marble,  and 
cut  deep  in  human  hearts  —  Johnston,  Beauregard, 
Longstreet,  Hill,  Hood,  and  a  hundred  more.  But 
those  three  rose  tallest  and  most  dibtinct  from  the 
smoke  of  the  Virginia  battles  —  Lee,  Jackson,  and 
Stuart.  They  owed  that  prominence  not  only  to 
their  soldiership,  but  to  the  personal  and  mental  in 
dividuality  which  characterized  them. 

Look  at  them  for  a  moment,  as  they  ride  along 
the  lines,  and  you  will  see  that  they  are  types. 

Lee  is  the  model  cavalier  of  the  great  Anglo-Noi- 
man  race.  His  figure  is  tall  and  erect ;  his  seat  in 
the  saddle  perfect.  His  uniform  is  plain  but  neat; 
his  equipment  beyond  criticism.  Stately,  thorough 
bred,  graceful  in  every  movement,  there  is  some 
thing  in  his  glance,  in  the  very  carriage  of  his  per 
son,  that  is  illustrious  and  imposing.  He  has  the 
army-leader  look.  •  There  is  not  the  remotest  parti 
cle  of  ostentation,  much  less  of  arrogance,  in  hi» 
bearing.  This  man  was  a  gentleman,  you  can  see, 
before  he  was  a  soldier. 

Jackson's  is  a  figure  altogether  different.  He  has 
cast  aside  to-day,  by  mere  accident,  his  old  dingy  uni 
form,  to  put  on  a  fine  dress-coat,  which  Stuart  has 
given  him  — an  overcoat  of  quite  surpassing  elegance 
—  and  a  new  cap,  which  dazzles  the  eye  with  its  braid. 
But  he  cannot  hide  the  individuality  of  "  Stonewall 
Jackson."  His  seat  in  the .  saddle  is  ungraceful ;  he 
rides  with  his  knees  drawn  up ;  his.  chin  is  in  the  air? 
and  he  looks  out  from  beneath  his  fine  new  cap  as  h« 
did  from  beneath  his  old  dingy  one,  thrown  aside.  It 


166  FRffDERICSSBUBG. 

is  scarcely  an  army-leader  that  yon  look  at  —  rather  a 
shy  and  absent-minded  student,  drawn  forth  from  the 
pious  meditations  of  his  study  by  the  bruit  of  war,  and 
^'stening  with  a  sort  of  bewildered  glance  to  all  this 
clash  of  arms.  Awkward,  unimposing,  silent,  there  is 
in  this  figure  not  the  least  hint  of  the  man  of  Port 
Republic,  Cold  Harbour,  and  Sharpsburg  —  never  haa 
the  flawless  diamond  of  supreme  military  genius  pro 
sented  itself  to  men  so  thoroughly  "  in  the  rough,"  un 
cut  and  unburnished.  To  know  its  quality,  you  must 
strike  against  it.  Not  the  heaviest  sledge-hammer  of 
war  can  splinter  it. 

Last  of  the  illustrious  trio  is  Stuart,  the  ideal  cavalry 
commander  of  all  imagination  —  young,  laughing,  joy 
ous,  superb,  with  rattling  sabre,  brilliant  sash,  floating 
plume  —  devoted,  fearless,  ever  hoping ;  and  ready  day 
or  night,  in  sunshine  or  in  storm,  to  carry  out  the  plans 
of  Lee — to  fight  with  infantry,  artillery,  or  cavalry, 
and  conquer,  or  "  die  trying."  In  his  dazzling  glance 
you  read  the  character  of  this  man,  who  laughs  at 
peril  and  dares  it  to  do  its  worst  —  the  incarnation,  in 
the  new  Revolution,  of  the  dead  Rupert  of  England. 

In  1864,  Lee  was  maimed,  indeed.  At  Chancellors 
ville  he  had  lost  his  right  arm.  At  Yellow  Tavern  he 
had  lost  his  left. 

The  cheers  rose,  rung  in  the  woods,  and  accompan 
ied  the  three  commanders  as  they  rode  on  to  the  right, 
along  the  railroad,  to  the  old  Richmond  stage  road. 
This  led  straight  toward  the  river,  striking  the  river 
fv^ad  running  parallel  with  the  stream,  near  the  Fed 
iral  left 

Franklin  was    already    moving.     Stuart  conducted 


VXBDBRIOK8BURQ.  167 

Gen.  Lc*  to  the  intersection  of  the  roads,  close  on  the 
enemy,  and  pointed  out  the  dusky  figures  in  the  fog : 
they  were  Federal  sharpshooters.  As  the  group  sat 
their  horses,  motionless,  the  depths  of  the  fog  began 
to  stir.  Black  specks  advanced  on  the  humid  field, 
and  bullets  whistled.  Then  the  dark  lines  of  the  ene- 
my  were  seen  as  they  slowly  and  steadily  advanced. 

Stuart  called  to  Pelliam,  his  chief  of  artillery,  and 
gave  him  an  order.  Pelham  disappeared  at  a  gallop ; 
soon  the  roll  of  artillery  was  heard  :  a  Napoleon  gun 
advanced  at  a  rapid  gallop  through  the  fog ;  and  Pel- 
ham  opened  fire  from  the  intersection  of  the  roads  up 
on  the  enemy's  left  as  they  came  on. 

"  Meade  advanced  across  the  plain,"  says  a  Federal 
writer,*  "but  had  not  proceeded  far  before  he  was 
compelled  to  stop  and  silence  a  battery  that  Stuart  had 
posted  on  the  Port  Royal  road,  and  which  had  a  flank 
fire  on  his  left. 

This  battery  was  one  Napoleon  —  captured  at  Seven 
Pines,  and  used  so  well  at  Cold  Harbour.  Pelham's 
fire  was  so  rapid  and  incessant  that  it  checked  Meade's 
whole  division.  Five  thousand  men  halted  until  that 
hornet  could  be  brushed  away. 

To  silence  the  galling  fire,  General  Meade  brought 
up  two  or  three  batteries,  posted  thorn  in  Pelham'a 
front,  at  point  blank  range,  and  opened  on  him  a  furi 
ous  fire  of  shot  and  shell,  to  which  was  added  the  cross 
firo  of  some  thirty-pound  Parrotts  on  the  hills  beyond 
the  river.  The  storm  of  projectiles  thus  hurled  at  the 
one  Napoleon  was  enough  to  move  the  nerve  of  a  vote 

•  MT.  WffliamSwinfcKi  —  "Ann/of  tl»  Potomac,"  pi  Ml 


158 


ran.  It  die  not  touch  Pelham's,  though  ho  was  literal 
ly  a  "  beardless  boy."  He  continued  the  fire,  in  the 
midst  of  dead  and  dying  men  of  the  gun  detachment, 
and  staid  until  his  last  round  had  been  fired,  and  a 
peremptory  order  came  for  him  to  move. 

Lee  had  witnessed  the  hard  combat  from  the  hill 
above. 

"  It  is  glorious  to  see  such  courage  in  one  sc 
young  !  "  he  exclaimed  ;  and  in  his  brief  report  of 
the  battle,  he  spoke  of  the  young  man  as  the  '^gal 
lant  Pelham,"  knighting  him  thus  upon  the  field. 

This  minute  mention  of  a  simple  accident  will  be 
pardoned  in  the  writer  of  these  lines.  Pelham  was 
his  friend,  and  is  dead  —  if  heroes  ever  die. 

Stuart  tried  to  support  Pelham  with  another  gun, 
but  it  was  smashed  to  pieces  ;  then  Gen.  Meade  rushed 
forward.  It  was  nine  or  ten  o'clock;  the  fog  had 
lifted  ;  the  plain  was  all  alive  with  serried  lines  of  in 
fantry  ;  and  with  the  thunder  of  artillery,  the  rattle  of 
small  arms,  and  the  cheers  of  onset,  the  Federal  forces 
dashed  up  headlong  to  the  wooded  slope  where  Jack 
son  waited,  grim  and  silent,  to  receive  their  attack. 

They  had  come  within  a  few  hundred  yards;  the 
Confederate  skirmishers  ran  in,  as  though  a  wind  had 
swept  them  back  ;  Meade  gallantly  rushed  on,  when  sud 
denly  from  the  crest  a  volcano  flamed.  It  was  Jackson's 
artillery,  held  in  leash  until  then.  No  ~y  all  at  once,  it 
opened.  The  crest  spouted  smoke  and  flame  ;  a  deto 
nation  tore  the  air,  and  the  Federal  lines  gave  back, 
with  huge  gaps  in  them,  made  by  the  frightful  fire  of 
shell  and  cannister.  In  spite  of  this  bloody  reception, 
however,  the  ranks  were  quickly  reformed;  the  lines 


FREDEWCK8BUBG.  159 

were  dressed  with  admirable  coolness ;  and,  though  the 
artillery  upon  the  crest  roared  on,  doing  bloody  work, 
the  men  rushed  headlong  at  the  heights. 

There  a  stubborn,  bitter,  desperate  combat  toot 
place — the  Confederates  not  moving.  L'ut  a  fatal  ac 
cident  came  suddenly  to  the  enemy's  assistance.  Hill 
had  left  a  gap  between  two  of  his  brigades  — the  Fede 
ral  forces  pierced  it — the  line  fell  back ;  in  a  few  mo 
ments  Jackson's  first  line  was  driven,  and  the  Federal 
troops  rushed  up,  and  gained  the  crest. 

That  charge  was  as  gallant  as  any  in  the  war,  and 
it  deserved  to  be  supported.  The  support  did  net 
come.  Five  thousand  men  had  dashed  into  the  lion's 
mouth  —  the  teeth  were  about  to  close  upon  them  — 
fifty  thousand  in  the  plain  beneath  were  looking  on  aa 
mere  spectators  of  this  grapple  of  life  and  death. 
Gen.  Burnside's  order  had  been  carried  out.  Franklin 
had  sent  the  "  division  "  to  "  seize  the  heights  near  Capt. 
Hamilton's ; "  they  had  been  seized  by  that  brave  rush, 
and  that  was  all.  In  thirty  minutes  Meade's  division 
was  driven  from  the  hill  —  the  earth  was  littered  with 
his  dead  —  the  survivors  were  flying  down  the  slope, 
pursued  by  merciless  volleys,  leaving  blood  upon  every 
dry  leaf,  dead  bodies  in  every  ravine. 

Gregg's  brigade  had  met  them  on  the  crest,  as  they 
rushed  up  —  had  checked  them  without  difficulty  — 
there  never  had  been  any  hope  for  them.  That  waa 
only  Jackson's  second  line ;  his  third  did  not  take  the 
trouble  to  move. 

Meade  had  lost  forty  men  out  of  every  hundred; 
the  rest  were  flying,  and  carrying  dismay  into  the 
ranks  of  their  comrades. 


160  FRBDERIOK8BURG. 

Both  armies  ?aw  this  repulse  —  terrible,  blcody, 
mortal.  From  a  hill,  near  the  centre  of  his  line,  Gen. 
Lee  looked  on  with  a  glow  in  his  cheeks,  and  a  martial 
light  in  the  clear,  commanding  eyes,  which  had  wit 
iiessed  in  their  time  so  many  scenes  of  carnage.  A* 
Gen.  Meade's  lines  were  now  seen  flying,  pursued  bj 
Jackson's  men,  Lee  gazed  at  them  in  silence ;  then,  in 
that  deep  voice,  which  never  lost  its  grave  and  meas 
ured  accent,  he  murmured : 

"It  is  well  this  is  so  terrible;  we  would  grow  too 
fond  of  it!" 

So  terminated  the  assault  upon  Jackson.  The  fatal 
charge  upon  Longstreet,  holding  Marye's  Hill,  waa 
DOW  to  follow. 

The  ground  has  been  briefly  referred  to;  let  ug 
look  at  it  again,  Marye's  Hill  is  west  of  Fred- 
ericksburg,  about  half  a  mile  distant.  Over  its 
abrupt  crest  runs  the  Plank  Road  to  Chancellorsville 
At  its  foot  comes  in  from  the  South  the  Telegraph 
Road,  skirted  here  by  a  low  stone  wall ;  and  in  front 
of  this  wall  is  an  open  field,  and  a  small  stream.  The 
point  of  "intersection  of  the  Plank  Road  with  the 
Telegraph  Road  "  was,  by  Gen.  Burnside's  order,  to  be 
the  point  of  attack  for  Sumner.  Now,  this  point  was 
the  stone  wall  bristling  with  infantry,  within  two  hun 
dred  yards  of  the  heights  crowned  with  artillery 
Above  the  wall  rose  a  hedge  of  bayonets ;  on  the  hilj 
grinned  the  bronae  mouths  of  Longstreet's  cannon. 

To  charge  that  position  was  desperation  or  'nadree* 
And  it  was  charged. 

No  sooner  had  the  thunders  of  the  assault  upon  Jack 


§on  §nnkt:>  silence,  than  the  storm  began  in  front  of 
Longstreet  —  sudden,  frightful,  horrible  beyond  words. 

There  are  events  of  the  war  which  the  historian 
shrinks  from  with  a  sort  of  a  shudder.  The  odour  of 
death  arises  from  them;  they  smell  of  the  charnel. 
That  assault  upon  Marye's  Heights  was  one  of  those 
terrible  episodes,  and  God  forbid  that  the  present 
writer  should  take  satisfaction  in  painting  the  bloody 
picture.  It  was  a  revel  of  death  that  the  sun  witnessed 
that  day — the  spectacle  of  men  rushing  madly  against 
musketry  and  cannon,  which  hurled  them  back,  and 
tore  them  to  pieces  at  every  step.  Sumner  obeyed  his 
fatal  order,  and  charged  in  column  of  brigades,  and  io 
ten  minutes  they  were  nearly  annihilated.  He  charged 
again  with  mad  courage — for  this  officer  had  the  blood 
of  the  soldier — and  was  met  as  before.  Not  a  man 
reached  that  fatal,  terrible  wall.  From  its  summit  the 
long  volleys  struck  the  troops  in  the  face,  and  from  the 
heights  above  round  shot  and  shell  finished  the  bloody 
work.  When  that  thunder  had  ceased,  what  the  eye 
saw  was  a  great  field  covered  at  every  step  with 
corpses ;  within  twenty-five  yards  of  the  wall,  the 
bravest  had  thrown  up  their  hands,  and  lay  dead  in 
that  attitude. 

The  assault  upon  Longstreet  had  been  repulsed  like 
the  asaai  It  on  Jackson. 

Then  the  madness  of  despair  is  said  to  have  seized 
upon  Gen.  Burnside.  He  had  not  witnessed  the  battle, 
remaining  at  his  head-quarters,  the  "  Philips  House," 
*  mile  or  more  from  the  river;  but  he  now  mounted  liis 
horse,  rode  down  to  the  banks,  dismounted,  walked 

14* 


hr.rriedly   up  and  down,  and,  gazing  at  the  ominoiu 
heights,  which  Siimner  had  just  charged,  exalairaed: 

"  That  crest  must  be  carried  to-night  1 " 

Hooker  had  been  held  in  reserve  on  the  north  *nk 
He  was  now  ordered  to  cross  and  attack,  lie  rode 
over,  looked  at  the  ground,  returned  at  full  gallop  tc 
Gen.  Burnside,  and  remonstrated. 

He  was  right  then  ;  he  was  not  right  afterwards  in 
"  making  out  a  case,"  and  as  strong  a  one  as  possible, 
against  his  commander.  Gen.  Hooker  enjoys  the  dis 
agreeable  reputation  of  having  always  sought  to  strike 
the  fallen  —  to  administer  the  coup  de  grace  to  his 
unfortunate  comrades  when  they  were  staggering  un 
der  "  official  "  displeasure.  Ferocious  against  McClel- 
lan,  after  his  failure  at  Cold  Harbour,  he  was  savage 
upon  Burnside  when  defeat  had  overshadowed  him  at 
Fredericksburg.  Marye's  Hill  was  an  ugly  obstacle  — 
Gen.  Hooker  made  it  hideous.  The  stone  wall  was  a 
barrier.  General  Hooker  made  a  fortress  of  it. 

Marye's  Hill,  he  says,  was  "  a  mountain  of  rock."  It 
was  only  an  ordinary  eminence,  with  artillery  to  de 
fend  it. 

The  stone  wall  was  "  five  or  six  hundred  yards  "  long, 
with  "  rifle-pits  all  along"  —  "nrit  simply  a  stone  wall 
but  a  support  wall,"  with  "earth  between  the  rifle-pits 
and  the  wall ; "  "  to  batter  down  that  wall  was  like 
battering  down  the  masonry  of  a  fortification ; "  and 
"  thirty  thousand  men  were  massed  behind  this  wall ! " 

So  says  Gen.  Hooker.  Let  the  reader  some  day  get 
out  of  the  cars  at  Fredericksburg,  and  go  and  look  at 
this  terrible  "  fortification."  It  is  a  poor  little  ordinary 
Virginia  stone  fence,  about  eighteen  inches  thick.  It 


is  there  to  speak  for  itself — jnst  as  is  was,  still  black 
ened  by  the  fires  kindled  on  that  cold  December  day 
of  1862. 

The  "  thirty  thousand  men,"  too,  were  the  product 
of  Gen.  Hooker's  imagination.  The  force  which  held 
that  wall  was  Cobb's  brigade,  to  which  were  added, 
during  the  action,  Kershaw's  brigade,  and  two  regi 
ments  of  Gen.  Cooke's — in  all,  seventeen  hundred 
men.  It  was  this  force  simply,*  not  thirty  thousand 
men,  which  was  "massed  behind  that  wall  of  five  or 
six  hundred  yards." 

The  animus  of  Gen.  Hooker  is  all  in  one  sentence  of 
his  repoi  t :  "  Finding  that  I  had  lost  as  many  men  as 
my  orders  required  me  to  lose,  I  suspended  the  attack." 
Unhappy  Gen.  Burnside !  you  were  struck  while  down 
by  your  remorseless  lieutenant,  who  was  burning  to 
show  his  superior  military  genius  —  at  Chancellorsville ! 

Receiving  the  order  to  attack  again  the  fatal  heights, 
Hooker  remonstrated,  as  lias  been  seen,  dccluiing,  with 
justice,  that  the  attack  was  desperate.  Gen.  Burnside 
insisted — a  vertigo  appeared  to  have  seized  upon  him. 
Hooker  obeyed,  sullenly  marshalled  his  troops,  and 
prepared  for  the  assault,  by  opening  with  his  artillery 
upon  the  dangerous  stone  wall.  His  object,  he  says, 
was  to  make  "  a  hole "  in  it  for  the  entrance  of  the  as 
saulting  column  ;  and  the  statement  is  so  curious  that 
it  can  only  be  explained  upon  the  theory  that  Gen. 
Hooker  never  saw  the  wall  of  which  he  spoke. 

The  artillery  fire  continued  until  nearly  sunset,  when 
everything  was  ready  for  tJie  second  assai  It  The  men 

•  Baporta  Amy  Northern  Vizginia,  VoL  ZL,  p.  4Mb 


104 


bad  thrown  away  their  knapsacks,  and  their  guns  were 
unloaded.  It  was  necessary  for  them  to  depend  en 
tirely  upon  the  bayonet,  "  for  there  was  no  time  thert 
to  load  and  fire,"  says  Gen.  Hooker.  The  column  oi 
assault  was  thus  formed,  the  word  was  given,  and  the 
troops  dashed  forward  with  hurrahs  to  storm  the  wall 
and  the  heights. 

A  few  words  only  are  necessary  to  convey  the  result. 
From  the  wall  and  the  hill  came  the  merciless  fusillade 
once  more  ;  the  dark  masses  staggered,  then  gave  way, 
then  retreated  swiftly,  leaving  the  ground  encumbered 
with  their  dead.  The  charge  had  lasted  "  fifteen  min 
utes  ;  "  and  of  four  thousand  men  who  went  forward  to 
the  assault,  the  bodies  of  seventeen  hundred  and  sixty 
were  left  upon  the  field. 

As  Hooker  fell  back,  a  threatening  roar  came  from 
the  Confederate  right,  near  Hamilton's  crossing  ;  and 
that  sound  announced  the  inception  of  one  of  the  most 
daring  enterprises  ever  conceived  by  the  master  mind 
jf  Jackson.  To  this  let  us  now  give  a  few  words. 

Repulsing  Meade  without  difficulty  in  the  morning 
Jackson  had  remained  in  position  upon  his  wofded 
crest,  waiting  all  day  for  a  second  attack.  As  the 
hours  passed  on,  and  the  enemy  only  used  their  artil 
lery.  it  became  obvious  that  no  further  assault  apon 
hin  would  be  made  that  day;  and  that  could  onU 
/esrslt  from  the  fact  that  their  troops  were  demoralized. 
WLat  to  do?  That  question  never  puzzled  Jackson 
long  With  the  intoiti  >n  of  genius,  he  understood  the 
whole  truth.  On  the  left  as  on  the  right  —  at  Marye'i 
M  at  Hamilton's-  -the  enemy  were  repulsed  and  stag 


rREDERIOESBUBQ.  166 

geriiig.  The  thing  was  now  to  drive  him  into  ike  river 
at  the  point  of  the  bayonet. 

Those  who  saw  Jackson  then  will  never  forget  his 
face.  His  eyes  glared,  his  cheeks  glowed,  his  lips  were 
shut  like  a  vice.  In  the  hurried  movements  of  the 
man,  ordinarily  so  calm,  and  in  the  strident  accents  of 
his  voice,  no  less  than  in  his  face,  could  be  read  the 
secret  of  an  immense  excitement  and  a  fixed  and  unal 
terable  resoiation. 

The  present  writer  saw  him,  and  wondered  at  that 
unwonted  emotion,  knowing  not  what  was  coming. 
Near  the  crossing,  one  of  his  staff,  well  known  to  me, 
came  at  a  gallop. 

"  Are  you  going  to  Gen.  Stuart  ? "  he  said,  hurriedly. 

"Yes." 

"  Well,  tell  him  that  Gen.  Jackson  is  going  to  ad 
vance  and  attack  the  enemy  precisely  at  sunset — he 
wishes  Gen.  Stuart  to  advance  his  artillery  and  fire  as 
rapidly  as  possible,  taking  care  not  to  injure  the  troops 
as  they  attack." 

A  glance  over  the  shoulder  showed  that  no  time  was 
to  be  lost.  The  sun  was  poised  like  a  red-hot  shield 
upon  the  Massaponnax  woods.  In  ten  minutes  Gen. 
Stuart  had  Jackson's  order. 

"  Good  !  "  he  exokiimed,  and  in  a  few  moments  his 
guns  began  to  advance,  firing  furiously  at  every  pause. 
Thirty  peices  under  Pelham  made  the  great  field  a 
sheet  of  flame  in  the  dusk,  and  step  by  step  Stuart 
threw  forward  his  artillery,  in  face  of  a  destructive 
fire,  until  he  was  near  the  Port  Royal  wood,  from 
which  Meade  had  advanced  in  the  morning.  But  nc 
sound  came  from  Jackson.  Stuart  was  roaring  on  still, 


rRSDERICKSBUXtO. 


when  a  courier  came  up  from  one  of  his  generals,  ask 
ing  the  news. 

"Tell  the  General  I  have  advanced,"  he  said,  "but 
Jackson  has  not,  and  that  I  am  going  on  crowding  'em 
with  artillery." 

As  night  fell  he  was  right  upon  the  enemy's  masses 
—  where  was  Jackson,  and  why  had  he  not  advanced  ? 
That  question  remains  unanswered.  Jackson  said  be 
cause  the  enemy  began  to  fire  upon  him  when  he 
moved,  with  all  theii  batteries.  The  army  said  be 
cause  an  order  miscarried  ;  a  general  lagged  ;  an  hour 
was  lost.  One  thing  only  is  certain  —  that  that 
grand  assault  was  never  made. 

What  result  would  have  followed  it?  That  is  a 
difficult  question  ;  and  it  is  hazardous  in  military  af 
fairs  to  speculate  upon  events  which  never  took  place. 

"  From  what  I  knew,"  says  Gen.  Franklin,  "  of  oui 
want  of  success  upon  the  right,  and  the  demoralized 
condition  of  the  troops  upon  the  right  and  centre,  aa 
represented  to  me  by  their  commanders,  I  confess  that 
I  believe  the  order  to  recross  was  a  very  proper  one." 

Jackson  is  said  to  have  adhered  to  his  attack  with 
the  bayonet  :  to  have  urged,  in  council  of  war,  that  the 
Confederates  should  strip  naked  to  the  waist,  make  a 
night  assault,  and  "drive  them  into  the  river."  He 
alone  seems  to  have  felt,  as  by  intuition,  that  the 
morale  of  the  Federal  army  was  broken. 

And  yet  Gen.  Burnside  resolved  upon  another  at 
tempt,  Crushed  in  all  but  his  courage,  he  ordered  the 
Ninth  Corps  to  be  marshaled  iii  column  of  regiments 
for  an  assault  on  Marye's  Hill,  led  by  himself  in  person, 
•nd  it  was  only  when  his  corps  commanders  Ixtsough* 


167 


him  not  to  slaughter  the  troops  uselessly,  that  he 
yielded. 

But  the  army  was  not  withdrawn.  All  day  Sunday 
and  Monday  —  two  whole  days  after  the  battle  —  the 
troops  remained  drawn  up  in  the  great  plain,  under 
the  muzzles  of  Gen.  Lee's  guns.  The  indecision  of  the 
Federal  commander  resembled  resolution.  He  seemed 
determined  to  attack  again.  The  bands  played,  the 
banners  rippled,  the  bugles  sounded,  the  lines  were 
marshaled  ;  then,  on  Tuesday  morning,  after  a  drench 
ing  storm  in  the  night,  the  multitude  had  disappeared 
like  the  phantasmagoria  of  a  dream. 

Burnside  had  recrossed  the  river,  and  the  campaign 
had  ended. 

A  town  in  ruins  and  still  smoking  ;  walls  torn  with 
cannon  balls  ;  houses  near  the  stone  fence  —  you  can 
see  them  still  —  riddled  like  sieves  with  musket  bullets  ; 
dead  bodies  every  where  ;  new-made  graves  on  every 
side;  broken  artillery  carriages;  abandoned  flags; 
women  without  shelter;  children  without  food;  dirt, 
desolation,  blood,  and  mourning  —  that  was  what  re 
mained  when  the  Federal  army  left  the  south  bank  of 
the  Bappahannock. 

Gen.  Burnside  had  fought  cae  of  the  bloodiest  and 
most  uaeiees  battles  of  history 


ra 


day  in  the  winter  of  1862,  Gen.  Stuart  was  talk 
ing  at  v  Jamp  No-Camp,"  his  head-quarters,  near  Pred- 
ericksburg,  with  a  member  of  his  staff. 

"Where  will  the  next  battle  be  fought,  Genera)  ?" 
the  staff  officer  asked. 

"Near  Chancellorsville,"  was  the  reply  of  Stuart. 

And  that  answer  was  not  guesswork.  It  was  calcu 
lation.  It  was  based  upon  the  soundest  of  all  military 
maxims:  "Expect  your  enemy  to  do  what  he  ought 
to  do." 

War  moves  as  the  stare  do  in  their  orbits  —  by  law, 
not  by  chance.  Certain  points  in  a  country  are  strate 
gic  as  others  are  not.  There  was  a  first  battle  of 
Manassas  in  July,  1861,  and  a  second  on  the  same 
ground  in  August,  1862.  There  was  a  first  battle  of 
Cold  Harbor  in  June,  1862,  and  a  second  there  in 
June,  1864.  There  was  a  first  battle  of  The  Wilder 
ness  in  May,  1863,  and  a  second  there  in  May,  1864, 
If  ever  there  is  another  revolution,  and  Virginia  is 
again  invaded,  there  will  be  a  third  battle  of  Manassas, 
of  Cold  Harbor,  and  of  The  Wilderness.  The  terrain  is 
not  chosen  —  it  chooses.  Armies  d^>nct  advance  to  fight 
at  certain  spots  of  the  earth;  they  are  dragged  there. 

When  Gen.  Stuart  said  that  Gen.  Hooker 

(168) 


CHANOBLLOR8VILLB.  169 

at  Chancellorsville,  he  gave  the  Federal  com 
mander  credit  for  military  acumen.  "With  Lee  at 
Frederic  loburg,  Chaneellorville  was  the  key  position. 
To  hold  i!  was  to  f « >rce  the  Confederate  commander  to 
come  out  *nd  fight  on  ground  chosen  by  his  adversary, 
or  to  retreat.  On  the  last  day  of  April,  Gen.  Hooker 
held  it ;  in  the  first  days  of  May  the  two  armies  grap 
pled  there. 

We  have  seen  the  ill-fortune  which  befell  Gen. 
Burnside  at  Fredericksburg — a  reverse  from  which 
that  officer  did  not  rise.  He  made  one  more  attempt 
to  cross  the  Rappahannock  at  a  ford  above  the  town, 
but  his  army  stuck  in  the  imid.  It  was  already  demor 
alized.  "  The  soldier  no  k-u^er  thinks  it  an  honor  to 
belong  to  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,"  wrote  a  Federal 
correspondent.  When  tw.  of  the  Northern  Generals 
received  Burnside's  order,  f >ne  said  to  the  other : 

"What  do  you  think  -vf  it?" 

" It  don't  seem  to  have  the  ring"  was  the  answer. 

"No,  thebell  is  broken"  replied  the  first. 

Here  is  a  sketch  of  the  army  making  its  last  advance : 

"At  every  turn  a  wagon  or  caisson  could  be  seen, 
sticking  fast  in  the  mud.  In  every  gully  batteries,  cais- 
Bons,  supply  wagons,  ambulances,  and  pontoons  were 
mired ;  horses  and  mules  up  to  their  bellies  in  mud ; 
soldiers  on  the  march  sinking  to  their  knees  at  almost 
every  step.  It  was  impossible  to  draw  an  empty 
wagon  through  the  dreadful  mud.  The  whole  army 
was  stuck  fast." 

In  fact  the  "bell  was  broken,"  and  Gem.  Burnside 
was  held  responsible     Ilis  head  fell,  and  Gen.  Joseph 
Hooker  reignel  in  his  stead. 
IB 


170  CHANGELLORBVILLB. 

The  plan  of  campaign  adopted  by  the  now  General 
was  excellent.  It  was  to  turn  Les's  left  flank,  attack 
from  that  direction,  and  force  him  to  fight  in  open 
field,  or  fall  back  upon  Richmond.  While  vaiting  for 
the  roads  to  dry  sufficiently  to  admit  of  the  movement 
of  infantry  and  artillery,  a  cavalry  expedition  was 
resolved  upon,  whose  aim  was  to  cut  the  Central  Kail 
road,  and,  if  possible,  traverse  the  whole  State  of  North 
Carolina. 

The  expedition  started  about  the  middle  of  March, 
aiming  to  pass  through  Culpeper  toward  Orange.  It 
was  commanded  by  Gen.  Averill,  an  officer  of  ability, 
and  the  force  consisted  of  six  regiments  of  cavalry  and 
a  battery.  The  number  was  estimated  by  Gen.  Stuart 
at  "three  thousand  in  the  saddle." 

On  the  17th  of  March,  Averill  crossed  at  Kelley's 
Ford,  and  was  met  there  by  Stuart,  with  eight  hundred 
men  of  Fitz  Lee,  the  latter  commanding.  An  obsti 
nate  combat  followed,  which  lasted  from  morning 
until  evening.  An  eye-witness  compared  Fitz  Lee's 
little  force  to  a  small  bull-dog  jumping  at  the  throat  of 
a  big  mastiff — ever  shaken  off  by  his  powerful  adver 
sary,  but  ever  returning  to  the  straggle,  until  the 
larger  animal's  strength  was  worn  out  Such  was  the 
actual  result.  At  sunset  Averill  recrossed  the  Happa- 
hannock,  and  gave  up  his  expedi:;;a.  He  had  left 
^the  roads  strewed  with  dead  men  and  horses."  Stu 
art  telegraphed  to  Gen.  Lee ;  but  side  by  side  with  the 
dead  Federalists  were  some  of  the  bravest  men  of  the 
Southern  cavalry.  Pelham  fell  here  leading  a  cliAtge 
— the  exact  death  he  would  have  chosen.  That 
was  worth  the  expedition. 


VSANOSLLOS8VZLUL  iTl 

The  first  move  of  Gen.  Hooker  had  thus  "  come  to 
grief ,"  but  greater  events  were  on  the  i  larch.  By  dil 
igent  attention,  he  had  thoroughly  reorganized  his 
army,  checked  desertion,  broken  bad  officers,  promoted 
good  ones,  re-equipped  the  whole  force,  and  made  of 
the  machine  broken  to  pieces  at  Fredericksburg,  a  pow 
erful  and  complete  war-engine,  which  promised  to 
crush  everything  in  its  path. 

This  force  consisted  of  seven  army  corps,  numbering 
in  all,  say  Federal  official  reports,  one  hundred  and 
twenty  thousand  infantry  and  artillery,  twelve  thousand 
cavalry,  and  more  than  four  hundred  guns ;  with  this, 
it  was  hoped  by  the  authorities  at  Washington  that 
Gen.  Hooker  would  be  able  to  overwhelm  his  oppo 
nent,  Gen.  Lee. 

Lee  had  remained  at  Fredericksburg,  with  small 
bodies  posted  opposite  the  upper  fords,  in  the  vicinity 
of  Chancellorsville.  In  April,  only  a  portion  of  his 
army  was  present — Longstreet  had  been  sent  on  an 
expedition  to  Suffolk,  on  the  south  side  of  James  River, 
and  had  no  part  in  the  great  combats  of  the  wilderness. 
Lee's  force  on  the  Rappahamiock  was  thus  danger 
ously  small.  It  amounted  in  all  to  about  forty-thon- 
Band  infantry,  and  seven  thousand  cavalry  and  artillery.* 

*  "Our  strength  at  Chancellorsville  and  Fredericksbnrg: 

Anderson  and  McLaws 13,000 

Jackson  (Hill,  Rodes,  Trimble) 21,000 

Early  (Fredericksburg) .     6,000 


47,000" 
M&  tf  OoL  WaUer  H.  Taylor   f  A.  G.  of  the  Army. 


172  CHANCELLOR  TILLS. 

The  opposing  armies  thjs  numberec  rt>ijpe  rtivel  i 
r»ne  hundred  and  thirty  -two  thousand,  an  a  forty  -seven 
thousand  of  all  arms  of  the  service;  that  is,  nearly 
three  to  one. 

The  plan  of  Gen.  Hooker,  as  we  have  said,  was 
admirable.  Three  of  his  army  corps,  under  Gen 
Sedgwick,  were  to  make  a  feint  of  crossing  at  Freder 
icksburg,  while  with  the  other  three  the  commanding 
General,  in  person,  would  cross  the  upper  Rappahan- 
nock  into  Culpeper,  advance  to  the  Rapidan,  pass  over 
that  river,  and  push  on  to  Chancellorsville.  Then  the 
last  of  his  army  corps — Couch's  Second  Corps — 
would  cross  at  United  States  Ford,  thus  uncovered; 
Sedgwick  would  return  to  the  north  bank  at  Freder- 
icksburg,  march  up  the  river,  and  pass  again  to  the 
south  bank  at  United  States  Ford — thus  Hooker's 
whole  army  would  be  massed  near  Chancellorsville, 
directly  upon  the  flank  of  his  adversary. 

And  this  was  not  all.  While  the  infantry  thus 
advanced  to  the  great  grapple  of  decisive  battle,  the 
cavalry  was  to  co-operate.  Ten  thousand  horsemen, 
under  Stoneman,  were  to  pass  through  Culpeper,  cross 
the  Rapidan,  near  Raccoon  Ford,  push  on  for  Gor- 
donsville,  destroy  the  Central  and  Fredericksburg 
Railroads  in  the  rear  of  Lee ;  and,  by  thus  cut  ting  off 
communication  with  Richmond,  prevent  Longstreet's 
coming  up,  and  starve  the  Southern  army.  If  bayonets 
and  cannon  did  not  do  the  work,  want  of  bread  and 
meat  would,  and  Lee  would  certainly  be  checkmated 
or  destroyed.  "Man  proposes — God  disposes." 

In  the  last  days  of  April,  Gen.  Hooker  began  to 
move.  Never  had  a  more  imposing  army  ehakf  i>  the 


JHAHrCBLLORBVILLm.  17* 

earth  of  the  western  World  with  its  tread.  j?rom  the 
forests  of  the  Rappahannock  emerged  what  seemed 
endless  columns  of  troops,  bristling  with  bayonets ;  ban 
ners  waved,  bugles  sounded,  the  wheels  of  four  hun 
dred  pieces  of  artillery,  and  the  hoofs  of  twelve  then 
•jand  horses,  startled  the  bleak  fields  of  Culpeper,  just 
emerging  from  the  snows  of  winter.  Hooker  crossed 
the  Rappahannock  at  Kelley's  ford  on  canvass  pon 
toons,  drove  Stuart's  small  cavalry  force  before  him, 
as  the  whirlwind  sweeps  the  dry  leaves,  and  pushed  on 
steadily  to  the  Rapidan,  which  his  column  w&ded 
through,  all  night,  by  the  glare  of  bonfires — the  water 
up  to  the  men's  shoulders. 

Pari  passu,  the  great  cavalry  column  had  moved 
across  Culpeper.  With  ten  thousand  horsemen,  Gen. 
Stoneman  made  straight  for  Gordonsville,  opposed  only 
by  a  few  hundred  men,  under  William  H.  F.  Lee,  for 
the  stout  cavalier  Stuart  had  other  work  before  him. 
He  was  hanging  on  the  front  and  flanks  of  Hooker, 
harassing,  impeding,  watching  him,  and  sending  cou 
rier  after  courier  with  intelligence  to  Gen.  Lee,  at  Fred- 
ericksburg.  Thus  Stoneman  had  in  front  of  him  only 
a  handful  of  opponents — a  fly  easy  to  brush  away,  it 
would  seem.  And,  in  truth,  young  Gen.  Lee  had  to 
tight  and  fall  back.  He  could  do  no  more  against 
Stoncman's  ten  thousand,  and  the  great  invading  col 
umn  of  blue  horsemen  hastened  on,  penetrating  into 
*  he  ^  er^  heart  of  Virginia,  south  of  the  Rapidan. 

O.^  Thursday,  then,  the  last  day  of  April,  this  was 
Jie  situation:  Hooker  approaching  Chancellorsville, 
xrith  foL-r  infantry  corps — for  Couch  had  crossed  at 
[  nited  States  Ford — hifl  great  force  of  cavalry  driv- 


174  CHANCELLORS? ILLS. 

ing  forward,  like  a  sword's  point,  into  the  ehrt  of  the 
State;  Sedgwick  threatening  at  Fredericksburg  with 
three  more  corps  of  infantry;  Lee  waiting,  with  hie 
forty  thousand,  for  the  enemy  to  fully  develope  their 
Intentions. 

Stuart,  falling  back,  and  fighting  step  by  step,  day 
and  night,  through  the  "Wilderness,"  had  at  once 
divined  the  plan  of  Hooker.  lie  had  predicted  truly. 
The  tenur  of  every  dispatch  which  he  sent  to  Lee  was, 
"  They  are  massing,  and  mean  to  fight  near  Chancel- 
lorsville." 

So,  on  this  night  of  Thursday,  everything  went  ad 
nirably  for  Gen.  Hooker.  He  swam  with  the  stream. 
Never  was  commander  more  joyous.  He  could  not 
conceal  from  his  officers  the  delight  which  he  experi 
enced.  He  was  radient,  and  victory  hovered  in  the 
lir  for  him. 

"The  rebel  army,"  he  exclaimed  to  those  around 
him,  "  is  now  the  legitimate  property  of  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac !  They  may  as  well  pack  up  their  haver 
sacks,  and  make  for  Richmond! — and  I  shall  be  aftei 
Mieml" 

To  his  troops,  he  said  in  a  general  order: 

"  The  enemy  must  either  ingloriously  fly,  or  come  out 
from  behind  his  defences,  and  give  us  battle  on  our 
own  ground,  where  certain  destruction  awaits  him!" 

There  were  those  of  his  officers,  doubtless,  who  lis 
tened  thoughtfully,  rather  than  with  enthusiasm,  to 
these  juvenile  ebullitions.  At  Cold  Harbor,  Manassas, 
Sharpsburg,  and  Fredericksburg,  they  had  felt  the 
tword's  point  of  the  silent  cavalier,  in  the  grey  cape, 
commanding  the  Southern  am  ly.  That  obstinately  cool 


CHANCELLCXBVILLK  171 

personage  was  still  at  Fredericksburg,  had  nci  issned 
any  orders  in  reference  to  "packing  haversacks;" 
seemed  resolved  to  stand  stubbornly,  instead  of  "  flyiag 
ingloriousiy ; "  and  did  not  yet  appear  to  regard  hi? 
good  old  army  as  "  the  legitimate  property  of  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac."  In  fact,  his  movements  were  aston 
ishinglj  opposed  to  such  an  idea.  The  Telegraph 
Road,  southward  from  Fredericksburg,  was  an  excel 
lent  highway  of  retreat;  but  Lee  seemed  to  be  igno 
rant  of  its  existence;  Stoueman's  ten  thousand  were 
streaming  on  to  cut  his  communications,  but  he  ap 
peared  wholly  unaware  of  the  fact.  Hooker  was  clos 
ing  in  upon  him,  with  that  enormous  cordon,  but  the 
eyes  of  tlie  old  lion,  thus  caught  in  the  battue,  were 
never  clearer  or  more  serene.  Did  he  despise  his 
adversary  ?  Did  he  reflect  that  to  wrap  a  cord  around 
&  sword-blade  is  as  dangerous  to  the  cord  as  to  the 
sword?  There  is  a  grand  "reciprocity"  in  war. 

"General,"  an  officer  said  to  Hoke,  that  brave 
North  Carolinian,  at  Cold  Harbor,  "  the  Yankees  are 
very  near  you,  yonder  I " 

"  Not  nearer,"  replied  Hoke,  "  than  I  am  u,  them  1 " 

That  Lee  regarded  the  situation  at  Chancellorsville 
much  as  Hoke  did  that  at  Cold  Harbor,  is  proved  by 
the  fact  that  his  first  step  was  to  lessen  the  distance 
between  nimself  and  his  adversary.  He  did  not  re 
treat  :  he  went  to  offer  Hooker  battle  in  the  Wilder 
ness 

Let  us  look  at  this  gix,  and  where  "  certain  destruc 
tion  awaited  "  the  leader  of  the  Confederates.  Hookei 
had  halted  in  the  Wilderness,  not  far  from  Chancei- 
lorsvilie,  —  a  curious  spot  in  a  curious  country.  Vir* 


OEAJTOSLL 


ginia  has  no  locality  stranger  than  that  sombre  **  Wil 
derness."  There  all  is  wild,  desolate,  and  lugubrwua 
Thicket,  undergrowth  and  jungle  stretch  for  miles, 
impenetrable  and  untouched.  Narrow  roads  wind  on 
foiever  between  melancholy  masses  of  stunted  ard 
gitarled  oak,  and  the  hiss  of  the  moccasin  in  the  ooze 
us  echoed  by  the  weird  cry  of  the  whipporwill,  lost  in 
the  shadowy  depths  of  the  wood.  Little  sunlight  sliines 
there.  The  face  of  nature  is  dreary  and  sad.  It  was 
so  before  the  battle  ;  it  is  not  more  cheerful  to-day, 
when,  as  you  ride  along,  you  see  fragments  of  shell, 
rotting  knapsacks,  rusty  gun-barrels,  bleached  bones, 
and  grinning  skulls. 

Into  this  jungle  Gen.  Hooker  penetrated.  It  waa 
the  wolf  in  his  den,  ready  to  tear  any  one  who  ap 
proached.  A  battle  there  seemed  impossible.  Neither 
side  could  see  its  antagonist.  Artillery  could  not  move  ; 
cavalry  could  not  operate;  the  very  infantry  had  to 
flatten  their  bodies  to  glide  between  the  stunted  trunks. 
That  an  army  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand 
men  should  have  chosen  that  spot  to  fight  forty  thou 
sand  ;  and  not  only  chosen  it,  but  made  it  a  hundred 
times  more  impenetrable  by  felling  trees,  erecting 
breastworks,  disposing  artillery,  en  masse,  to  sweep 
e^ery  road  and  bridle  path  which  led  to  Chancellors- 
ville,  —  this  fact  seemed  incredible. 

What  did  Gen.  Hooker  mean  by,  "  I  will  be  after 
them,"  —  that  is,  the  Confederate  army?  He  did  no: 
seem  to  be  "  after  them,"  thus  dead-locked  in  the  Chan- 
cerorsville  thicket.  The  sudden  roar  of  artillery  from 
the  aide  of  Fredericksburg,  reverberating  grimly  in  the 


OHANOJSLLOBSVILLB.  177 

tangled  depths  of  the  inickets,  seemed  to  indicate  that 
the  Confederates  were  "  after  "  him  ! 

That  sullen  thunder  began  on  Friday  afternoon,  the 
day  after  the  arrival  of  the  Federal  army  at  Chancel- 
lorsville.  Up  to  that  moment  Gen.  Hooker's  plans  had 
been  admirable,  and  were  executed  with  the  skill  and 
promptness  which  compel  the  eagles  of  victory  to  perch 
upon  the  standards  of  an  army.  The  whole  programme, 
conceived  by  Hooker  in  his  tent,  had  been  translated 
into  action  by  his  excellent  Lieutenants.  Stoneman 
was  near  the  Central  Railroad ;  Sedgwick  was  threaten 
ing  to  cross  at  Frcdericksburg,  and  holding  Lee  there. 
Hooker  was  rooted  at  Chancellorsville,  in  an  absolute 
fortress,  and  two  of  his  army  corps  had  pushed  forward 
on  the  road  to  Fredericksburg  to  meet  Lee,  if  he 
advanced. 

There  was  the  place  to  fight,  not  in  the  jungle ;  and 
every  consideration  of  military  science  demanded  that 
Hooker  should  mass  and  deliver  battle  there.  The 
country  was  open,  rolling,  —  a  great  plateau  whereon 
troops  of  all  arms  could  be  manoeuvred.  The  spot 
held  on  Friday  afternoon  was  well  out  on  the  road  to 
Fredericksburg,  and  virtually  commanded  Banks'sford, 
by  which  Gen.  Sedgwick  could  cross  the  river,  and 
thus  make  the  whole  army  a  unit.  One  march  during 
Friday  night  would  have  effected  that ;  on  the  morning 
of  Saturday,  Gen.  Hooker's  one  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  men  and  four  hundred  guns  would  have  been 
drawn  up  on  that  commanding  position,  before  half  of 
Lee's  force  could  have  amved. 

We  are  not  criticising  Gen.  Hooker  for  the  pleasure 
of  criticising  him.  Look  at  the  map.  A  beardless 


178  ^'HANGELLORSVILUL 

cadet  woula  have  stayed  there,  hnrried  up  Sedgwick, 
massed  the  army,  and  fought  where  numbers  could  bfc 
manoeuvred  and  made  to  tell.  Hooker  ordered  the 
two  corps  to  fall  back  to  Chaucellorsvilie ;  gave  no 
reasons  when  his  officers  remonstrated ;  he  had  decided 
to  fight  in  the  jungle. 

From  the  moment  when  the  plateau  was  abandoned, 
everything  was  changed.  Good  fortune  deserted  Gen. 

v  Cj  O 

Hooker,  or  rather,  lie  repulsed  it.  He  threw  away  the 
pearl,  and  the  mailed  hand  of  Lee  caught  it  as  it  fell. 

The  Confederate  commander  had  discovered  every 
thing  now,  and  his  resolution  was  formed  in  a  moment. 
Sedgwick's  attack  on  Fredericksburg  was  seen  to  be  a 
mere  feint.  The  real  assault  was  on  the  Confederate 
left  from  above ;  and,  leaving  only  about  six  thousand 
men  at  Fredericksburg,  Lee  advanced  to  give  battle  to 
Hooker. 

Jackson,  commanding  the  advance  force,  had  already 
moved  up,  reaching  Tabernacle  Church,  a  few  miles 
from  Chancellorsville,  on  Friday.  There  he  struck  up 
against  the  two  corps  which  had  advanced  to  the  pla 
teau,  and  attacked  them,  but  effected  little.  Still,  it 
was  in  consequence  of  this  attack  from  the  head  of 
Lee's  column  that  Hooker  recalled  his  troops,  and 
concentrated  his  whole  force  in  the  Wilderness. 

At  night  Lee  arrived.  A  counsel  of  war  was  held. 
Jackson  had  seen  at  a  glance  that  a  front  attack  upon 
Hooker  was  nn  impossibility  in  his  impregnable  posi 
tion,  and  the  result  of  the  consultation  was  tiie  great 
movement  against  the  Federal  right. 

Tfte  movement,  we  say,  —  not  a  movemen^.  Who 
ever  has  heard  of  the  battle  of  ChancellorsviUe  hag 


CHANOELLOB8VILLR.  17* 

heard  of  that  gigantic  blow  which  the  hand  of  Jackson 

struck  just  before  the  mighty  arm  was  paralyzed.  The 
last  exhibition  of  his  military  genius,  it  was,  perhaps, 
the  greatest  and  most  glorious.  So  heavy  and  mortal 
was  the  stroke  which  he  delivered,  that  the  noise  of  i* 
echoed  throughout  the  world. 

At  dawn  Jackson  was  moving  to  accomplish  hid 
design,  with  about  half  Lee's  force — twenty-one 
thousand  men ;  with  the  remnant  Lee  would  make  de 
monstrations  on  the  enemy's  front  and  left,  while  the 
great  plan  was  struck  at  his  right. 

From  this  moment  until  Sunday,  the  chief  interest 
of  the  battle  of  Chancellorsville  concentrates  upon 
Jackson. 

A  word  is  necessary  to  explain  clearly  Hooker's 
position.  He  was  drawn  up  near  Chancellorsville, 
protected  by  heavy  earthworks,  resembling  the  two 
pides  of  a  square.  One  side — the  right  wing  — 
fronted  south ;  the  other  side — the  left  wing — fronted 
nearly  east,  covering  the  Old  Turnpike  and  Plank 
Road,  running  from  Fredericksburg  westward.  This 
order  of  battle  was  evidently  formed  on  the  supposi 
tion  that,  coming  from  Fredericksburg,  Lee  would 
cither  attack  his  left  or  his  front ;  it  was  not  supposed 
possible  that  the  Confederate  commander,  with  his 
small  aimy,  would  venture  a  movement  so  audacious 
as  an  assault  against  his  opponent's  right  and  rear. 

And  yet  that  was  precisely  the  move  determined  up 
on.  It  was  hazardous  ;  it  was  more  than  hazardous — 
reckless.  But  forty  thousand  men  opposed  to  one 
hundred  and  twenty  thousand,  are  obliged  to  be  reek- 
For  the  rest  there  was  one  element  of  th« 


ISO  OHAJSOELLOBBVnjJL 

problem  which  counted  for  much.  The  attacking 
column  was  led  by  JacksoL. 

One  of  the  military  maxims  of  tlis  soldier  was, 
"mystery  is  the  secret  of  success."  The  movement 
now  to  be  made  was  defeated,  if  discoveied ;  from  tlio 
moment  when  Gen.  Hooker  divined  the  scheme,  all 
was  lost.  Not  the  day  only — the  army  also.  Lee  wan 
dividing  his  small  force  in  face  of  overwhelming  num 
bers  ;  that  fact  known,  he  was  gone,  or  ought  to  have 
been. 

Jackson's  aim  was  thus  to  deceive  the  enemy  com 
pletely — to  elude  his  vigilance,  and  fall  like  a  thunder 
bolt  from  a  clear  sky,  when  it  is  least  expected.  He 
had  to  pass  through  the  woods  across  the  entire 
Federal  front,  attain  their  right  flank  unawares,  and 
overwhelm  it  before  it  could  make  any  resistance. 

He  set  out  at  dawn,  moving  obliquely  from  the 
Plank  Road,  and  gaining  ground  toward  the  South. 
On  his  right  flank  and  in  front  moved  Stuart  with  Fitz 
Lee's  cavalry,  masking  the  movement,  and  driving  off 
Federal  scouting  parties.  Along  the  narrow  country 
road,  lost  in  the  dense  forest,  the  infantry  tramped  on 
steadily  and  in  silence. 

At  the  "Furnace,"  a  mile  or  two  from  Hooker's 
front,  the  movement  seemed  discovered.  An  attack 
was  made  on  the  rear  of  the  column,  and  a  whole  regi 
ment  captured.  Jackson  ordered  a  portion  of  his 
artillery  to  take  position,  and  open  fire.  This  was 
done.  Then  he  moved  on,  as  if  nothing  had  taken 
place. 

But  what  ought  to  have  been  a  very  fatal  ci  rcum- 
•tance  had  happened.  Gen.  Hooker  had  seen  him; 


CHAJfVSZL  VRSVILLB.  181 

cavalry,  infantry,  artillery,  all  were  seen ;  how  thea 
the  success  of  the  surprise  ? 

Wo  cannot  answer  that  question. 

When  Gen.  Hooker  was  testifying  before  the  War 
Committee  afterwards,  lie  said  that  the  had  dis^o^emj 
Jackson's  intended  assault  on  his  right,  and  had  pro 
vided  against  it ;  H  had  succeeded  because  his  orders 
were  disobeyed.*  But  pen  and  ink  are  terrible 
things!  On  Saturday  afternoon,  just  when  Jackson 
was  about  to  strike  the  mortal  blow  at  his  right,  Gen. 
Hooker  wrote  Sedgwick : 

"  We  know  the  enemy  is  flying,  trying  to  save  hi* 
trains  "  /f 

The  fact  appears  to  be  that  Gen.  Hooker  was  com 
pletely  deceived.  The  road  near  the  Furnace  bends 
southward,  and  Jackson's  movement  did  resemble  a 
retroit.  It  was  the  recoil  of  the  arm  when  about  to 
strike.  Lee's  great  Lieutenant  advanced  without 
pausing,  attained  the  Brock  Road,  running  from 
Spottsylvania  Court-House  to  the  Rapidan,  struck  into 
it,  and  reached  the  Orange  Plank  Road  two  or  three 
miles  west  of  Chancellorsville.  There,  accompanied 
by  Fitz  Lee,  Jackson  rode  up  on  a  hill,  and  saw  the 
enemy's  line  just  in  front.  He  was  not  yet  far 
enough. 

"  Tell  my  column  to  cross  that  road,"  he  said  to  an 
aid,  pointing  to  the  Plank  Road.  Flis  object  was  to 
gain  the  Old  Turnpike  beyond,  from  which  he  would 


*  Hooker.  —  "  Mj  instructions  were  utterly  and  criminally  dkre- 
fmrded."— Cond.  of  War,  I.,  127. 
f  Conduct  of  War,  VoL  L,  p.  05. 
It 


182  OHANCELLOR6V1LUL 

be  able  to  descend  straight  npon  the  flank  aj  i  rea:  ol 
the  enemy. 

Rapidly  reaching  the  desired  point,  Jackson  hastened 
to  form  order  of  battle.  He  placed  Rodes  in  front, 
Colston,  commanding  Trimble's  division,  behind  the 
first  line,  and  A.  P.  Hill's  division  in  reserve.  The 
enemy  had  not  discovered  him.  The  twenty-one  thou 
sand  men  had  moved  as  though  shod  with  the  "  shoes 
of  silence."  At  about  five  in  the  evening  the  line 
swept  forward  through  the  thicket,  with  a  sudden 
storm  of  cheers,  which  shook  the  forest.  They  were 
soon  upon  the  enemy — surprised,  demoralized,  un 
nerved  from  the  first  by  this  sudden  and  terrible  on 
slaught.  Before  the  tornado,  nothing  stood.  Rodes 
stormed  the  works  in  front  of  him,  passed  over  them, 
drove  the  entire  Eleventh  corps,  who  were  cooking 
their  suppers,  from  their  frying-pans  and  coffee-pots,* 
and  pursued  them  with  yells  down  the  road,  and 
through  the  thicket,  toward  Chancellorsville.  Colston 
had  rushed  in  behind,  passing  over  the  works  with 
Rodes ;  the  enemy  had  been  dashed  to  pieces  by  these 
two  divisions,  and  were  struck  with  panic  —  the  Dutch 
soldiers  yelling  —  artillery  smashing  against  trees,  and 
overturning  as  it  went  off  at  a  gallop — the  whole  corps 
fleeing  wildly  before  the  avenging  Nemesis  uj>on  their 
Leels. 

"Throw  your  men    into  the    breach!"  exclaimed 
Gen.  Hooker,  galloping  up,  and  addressing  an  officer, 


*  "  Their  arms  were  stacked,  and  the  men  were  away  f  cm  them 
and  scattered  about  for  the  purpose  of  xwking  theij  supper*.' 
— Bookar,  Conduct  of  War,  I.  p.  127. 


OHANCSLLOBSVILLM.  183 

"  receive  the  enemy  on  your  bayonets  —  don't  fire  a 
phot,  they  can't  see  you ! " 

But  the  injunction  was  too  late  to  prevent  tlie 
reverse.  The  entire  corps  holding  the  right  wing  of 
the  Federal  army  was  doubled  up  and  crushed  back  -  - 
a  Iriddled  mass  of  fugitives  —  on  their  centre,  near 
ChaoiccllorBville.  So  great  a  blow  had  Jackson  struck, 
from  that  quarter  whence  it  was  so  little  expected. 

The  effect  of  it  is  described  by  Northern  writers  who 
were  present.  Little  blood  had  been  shed,  but  Gen. 
Hooker  had  better  have  lost  ten  thousand  men.  His 
own  countrymen  say  that  this  sudden  overthrow  of  the 
llth  Corps  shook  the  nerve  of  the  army — that  it  had  a 
fatal  effect  upon  the  morale  of  all.  If  this  be  untrue, 
no  explanation  remains  of  the  astounding  success  of 
Stuart's  attack  on  the  next  morning.  Not  a  man  Lad 
reinforced  the  original  column  of  Jackson,  and  it  drove 
before  it  the  whole  right  wing  of  Gen.  Hooker's  army 
— his  force  numbering  ninety-eight  thousand  men.* 

Is  further  proof  needed  of  the  effect  of  that  grea4 
blow  ?  Take  the  statement  of  a  Northern  writer : 

"During  the  night  [of  Saturday,  after  Jackson'i 
attack,]  the  engineers  had  traced  out  a  new  line,  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile  to  the  rear  of  Chancellorsville, 
towards  the  river,  and  covering  the  roads  to  United 
States  and  Ely's  Fords." 

*  Rfttolds's  Corps  was  withdrawn  from  Sedgwick  on  Saturday, 
and  reached  Chancellorsville  that  night,  leaving  only  twenty-two 
thousand  men  with  Sedgwick.  This  made  Hooker's  force,  at 
Chancellorsville  ninety-eight  thousand.  Jie  force  attacked  on  San* 
day  morning. 


184  OHAffCBLLOBSVILLM. 

Gen.  Hooker  had  been  driven  already.  To  thii 
"new  line"  he  retreated  at  eleven  next  day.f 

Night  fell  as  Jackson  continued  to  press  the  Federal 
right  wing  on  Chancellorsville.  He  approached  now 
the  end  of  his  great  life.  Death's  skeleton  finger  wa« 
stretched  out  to  touch  him  in  mid-career;  but  th* 
lamp  BO  soon  to  be  extinguished  burned  with  a  light 
more  dazzling  than  ever  before.  Jackson's  original 
attack  was  daring;  his  scheme  now  had  in  it  some 
thing  superb,  and  worthy  the  last  hours  of  a  great 
leader.  It  was  nothing  else  than  to  extend  his  left, 
sweep  across  the  roads  which  led  to  the  Rappahannock, 
and  cut  off  Hooker's  entire  army. 

With  about  twenty  thousand  men,  he  was  going  to 
place  himself  in  the  path  of  nearly  one  hundred  thou 
sand,  and  say,  "  Surrender,  or  you  are  dead ! " 

He  never  did  so.  His  last  hour  was  near.  He  had 
ordered  his  lines  to  be  dressed  for  the  final  advance — 
Rodes  and  Colston  to  yield  the  front,  giving  place  to 
Hill's  fresh  troops — and  now  rode  down  the  turnpike 
towards  Chancellorsville,  less  than  a  mile  distant  It 
was  a  strange  locality,  a  strange  scene,  and  a  strange 
night.  Upon  the  dusky  thickets  skirting  the  road,  the 
moon,  wading  through  clouds,  threw  a  misty  and  som 
bre  light.  The  woods  were  full  of  moving  figures. 
which  resembled  phantoms;  the  whippoorwills  cried 
from  the  undergrowth;  not  a  gun  was  heard;  and 
from  Chancellorsville  came  only  a  confused  hum  and 
murmur. 

Jackson,  with  his  staff,  rode  forward  to  reconnoitre, 

t  3cada0t  of  the  War.  L,  1*7. 


OHANOELLORBVILUS.  18ft 

and  stopped  in  the  road  listening.  Then  suddenly  a 
gun  was  fired  in  the  thicket — and  at  that  sound  the 
troops  clutched  and  leveled  their  weapons.  Jackson 
turned  to  ride  back ;  but  had  scarcely  done  so  when  a 
volley  was  fired  upon  him  by  his  own  men  from  the 
right.  He  turned  to  gallop  into  the  thicket  on  the 
left,  and  then  came  the  fatal  stroke  The  men  there 
had  been  ordered  to  guard  against  Federal  calvary,  and 
they  took  Jackson's  party  for  cavalry.  Kneeling  OD 
the  right  knee,  they  fired  upon  him  at  less  than  thirty 
paces :  wounded  him  mortally,  and  his  horse  wheeling 
round,  darted  violently  under  a  bough,  which  struck 
him  in  the  face,  tore  his  cap  off,  and  nearly  dragged 
him  from  the  saddle.  But  he  caught  the  bridle  with 
the  bleeding  fingers  through  which  a  bullet  had  torn  ; 
guided  the  animal  into  the  road,  and  there  fell  into 
the  arms  of  one  of  his  staff  officers,  who  laid  him  upon 
the  earth.  The  firing  had  ceased  as  suddenly  as  it 
had  begun,  but  it  had  been  fatal  to  many.  Some  were 
dead,  some  wounded,  some  carried  by  their  frightened 
horses  into  the  enemy's  lines — one  officer  was  shot  dead, 
his  horse  ran  off,  and  the  corpse,  with  the  feet  still  in 
the  stirrups,  was  dragged  to  Chancellorsville.  The 
dead  "went  fast"  there! 

Jackson  was  borne  to  the  rear,  in  the  midst  of  a  ver 
itable  hurricane  of  shell  and  canister  which  the  enemy 
directed  upon  the  road  from  their  epaulements  in  front 
•>f  Chancellorsville.  On  his  way  to  the  rear,  Gen. 
Fender  met  him,  and  expressed  the  apprehension  that 
he  would  be  compelled  to  fall  back  from  his  position, 
Jackson's  eye  flashed. 


18«  QHANQELLOB8VILLM. 

"  Ton  must  hold  your  ground,  Gen.  Fender  I"  he 
exclaimed, "  you  must  hold  your  ground,  Kir !  " 

That  was  the  last  order  of  Stonewall  Jftrkson  on  th« 
field.  Ten  days  afterwards  he  was  dead. 

Among  his  last  words  had  been,  "  A.  i*.  Hill,  pre 
pare  for  action ! " 

That  is  to  say,  his  last  thought  upon  "jarth  was  Mt 
great  design  that  night  in  the  Wilderness  woods. 
Hill's  fresh  men  were  to  make  thr,  great  movement 
aiming  to  cut  off  Hooker  from  4ie  river ;  and  in  his 
dying  hours  Jackson  murmured : 

''  If  I  had  not  been  wounded,  or  had  had  one  more 
hour  of  daylight,  I  would  have  cut  off  the  enemj 
from  the  road  to  United  Sta*«3s  Ford — we  would  have 
had  them  entirely  surrourJed  would  have  been  obliged 
to  surrender  or  cat  *jhe'r  way  out  —  they  had  no  other 
alternative  1 " 

But  the  great  ar/u  was  paralyzed,  the  fiery  brain 
chilled,  an*2  Hill  second  in  command,  had  also  been 
wounded,  nearly  at  the  same  moment  with  Jackson. 
The  scheme  was  thus  abandoned,  and  one  of  the  n.Gi=t 
wonderful  tableaus  in  military  history  lost  —  that  of 
*renty-thousand  "cutting  off"  one  hundred  thousand. 

Jackson  had  thus  disappeared.  The  corps  which  he 
nad  led  to  victory  was  without  a  head.  Who  was  to 
grasp  the  baton  of  the  great  Marshal  of  Lee,  as  it  feli 
from  the  bleeding  hand?  Lying  faint  and  palo  on  hi* 
litter,  Jackson's  thoughts  turned  tc  Stuart,  who  had 
gone  with  his  cavalry  to  attack  a  Federal  camp  on  the 
road  to  Ely's  ford.  Stuart  was  just  about  to  open  hia 
assault  when  a  message  reached  him.  He  came  back 
at  full  gallop  through  the  darkness,  and  TTi11?  wounded 


OHANCELLOR8VILLB.  187 

turned  over  the  command  of  the  corps  to  nim.  Jack 
son  was  some  miles  in  the  rear  now,  at  Wilderne&e 
Tavern,  and  Stuart — prevented  by  the  exigences  oi 
the  hour  from  going  to  him —  sent  to  ask  his  plans  and 
dispositions. 

"Go  back  to  Gen.  Stuart,"  murmured  Jackson, 
"  and  tell  him  to  act  upon  his  own  judgment  and  do 
what  he  thinks  best;  I  have  implicit  confidence  in 
him." 

Stuart  then  took  command  in  person,  marshaled  his 
lines,  and  made  every  preparation  for  a  renewal  of  the 
assault  at  dawn.  The  infantry,  long  used  to  the  quiet 
and  slow-moving  figure  of  Stonewall  Jackson,  in  his 
old  dingy  uniform,  were  now  startled  by  the  appearance 
of  the  young  cavalier,  with  his  floating  plume  and  viva 
cious  movements,  galloping  to  and  fro,  with  his  drawn 
eabre  gleaming  in  the  moonlight.  Whatever  they  maj 
have  thought  of  him  as  an  infantry  leader,  they  knew 
that  there  was  fight  in  him,  and  all  prepared  for  a  hard 
struggle. 

Before  daylight  Stuart  was  ready.  It  was  not  neces 
sary  to  await  an  express  order  from  Lee.  There  was 
one  thing,  and  one  thing  only  to  do  —  to  attack  at 
dawn. 

All  the  evening,  during  Jackson's  attack,  Lee  had 
thundered  against  the  enemy's  front,  as  a  diversion. 
The  intelligence  of  his  great  Lieutenant's  complete 
Buccess,  and  of  his  fall,  came  at  the  same  moment. 
Lee's  grief  was  poignant,  and  he  murmured,  "I  ha  en 
lost  my  right  arm ! " 

The  messenger,  bringing  the  information,  added  that 
Jackson  had  intended  to  "  press  the  enemy  on  Sunday .* 


188  CHANOELLOR8VILLS. 

At  these  words,  Gen.  Lee  rose  from  the  straw  or. 

he  was  lying,  wrapped  in  his  blanket,  under  a  breadth 

of  canvass,  and  exclaimed,  with  glowing  cheeks : 

"  These  people  shall  be  pressed,  to-day." 

It  was  then  past  midnight.     At  dawn,  Stuart  ad 
vanced  to  the  assault;   the  forces  of  Andereon  and 
McLaws  at  the  same  moment  attacking  the  enemyV 
front. 

Stuart's  assault  with  infantry  had  in  it  the  rush  and 
impetus  of  his  cavalry  charge.  Leading  his  line  in 
person,  with  drawn  sabre  and  floating  plume,  he  resem- 
.  bled,  said  one  who  saw  him,  the  dead  Henry  of  Navarre, 
,  plunging  amid  the  smoke  of  Ivry.  But  even  in  this 
moment  of  decisive  struggle,  when  the  two  great  armies 
had  grappled  in  that  mortal  wrestle,  the  spirit  of  wild 
gayety,  which  fired  Stuart's  blood  in  action,  only  flamed 
out  more  superbly.  At  the  head  of  the  great  corps  of 
Jackson,  and  leading  the  decisive  charge  in  a  pitched 
battle  against  triple  lines  of  breastworks,  bristling  with 
infantry  and  cannon,  Stuart's  sonorous  voice  was  heard 
singing,  "  Old  Joe  Hooker,  will  you  come  out  of  the 
Wilderness ! " 

There  was  another  sound  which  had  in  it  something 
more  tragic  and  menacing,  as  it  vibrated  above  the 
thunder  of  the  guns.    That  was  the  shout  of  ten  thou 
sand  voices,  as  the  lines  rushed  together : 

"  Remember  Jackson  1 " 

Driven  headlong,  as  it  were,  by  that '  liming  thought 
of  theii  great  leader  lying  faint  and  bleeding,  not  far 
from  them,  the  men  resembled  furies.  Nothing  stopped 
them  The  Federal  artillery  ploughed  gaps  through 
them  —  they  closed  up  and  continued  to  rush  forward 


CHANCELLORBVILLE.  189 

Tl.e  <  olonrs  were  struck  down ;  as  they  fell,  quick 
hands  seized  them,  and  again  they  floated  and  were 
borne  on.  "Whole  regiments  fired  away  their  las* 
rounds  of  cartridges ;  but  they  stood  and  met  death, 
falling  where  they  faced  the  enemy,  or  continued  to 
advance  as  before.  This  is  not  the  statement  of  a 
Southern  writer  only. 

"  From  the  large  brick  house  which  gives  the  name  to 
this  vicinity,"  says  a  writer  of  the  North,  "  the  enemy 
sould  be  seen  sweeping  slowly  but  confidently,  deter 
minedly,  and  surely,  through  the  clearings  which  ex 
tended  in  front.  Nothing  could  excite  more  admiration 
for  the  qualities  of  the  veteran  soldier,  than  the  mannei 
in  which  the  enemy  swept  out,  as  they  moved  steadily 
onward,  the  forces  which  were  opposed  to  them.  We 
say  it  reluctantly,  and  for  the  first  time,  that  the  enemy 
have  shown  the  finest  qualities,  and  we  acknowledge, 
on  this  occasion,  their  superiority  in  the  open  field  to 
our  own  men.  They  delivered  their  fire  with  precision, 
and  were  apparently  inflexible  and  immovable  under 
the  storm  of  bullets  and  shell  which  they  were  con 
stantly  receiving.  Coming  to  a  piece  of  timber,  which 
was  occupied  by  a  division  of  our  own  men,  half  the 
number  were  detailed  to  clear  the  woods.  It  seemed 
certain  that  here  they  would  be  repulsed,  but  the} 
marched  right  through  the  wood,  driving  our  own  sol 
diers  out,  who  delivered  their  fire  and  fell  back,  halted 
again,  fired  and  fell  back  as  before,  seeming  to  concede 
to  the  enemy,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  superiority 
which  they  evidently  felt  themselves.  Our  own  men 
fought  well.  There  was  no  lack  of  courage,  but  an 
evident  feeling  that  tLey  were  destined  to  be  beaten, 


ISO  CHANOELLORBVILLK 

and  the  only  thing  for  them  to  do  wag  x  fire  and 
retreat." 

Stuart  pre&sed  straight  on.  At  the  same  time  th« 
force  under  Gen.  Lee  in  person,  on  the  right,  ~vas 
thrown  vigorously  against  the  Federal  front.  In  the 
lugubrious  thickets  all  the  thunders  seemed  unloosed. 
The  moment  had  come  when,  breast  to  breast,  the  an 
tagonists  were  to  grapple  in  the  death  struggle. 

Stuart  decided  the  event  speedily  by  one  of  those 
conceptions  which  show  the  possession  of  military 
genius.  There  were  many  in  the  Southern  army  who 
said  that  he  was  "  only  a  cavalry  officer."  After  this 
morning,  he  eould  claim  to  be  "  an  artillery  officer.'1 
too.  On  tbs  right  of  his  line  was  a  hill,  which  hirf 
quick  eye  had  soon  discovered ;  and  this  was  plainly 
the  key  of  the  position.  Stuart  massed  there  about 
tliiity  pieces  of  artillery,  and  opened  all  at  once  a 
heavy  fire  upon  the  Federal  centre. 

That  fire  decided  the  event.  Before  that  hurricane 
striking  their  centre,  the  Federal  line  began  to  waver 
and  lose  heart.  Gen.  Slocum  sent  word  to  Gen.  Hooker 
that  his  front  was  being  swept  away  —  he  must  be  re 
inforced. 

"  I  cannot  make  soldiers  or  ammunition  1 "  was  the 
p.ullen  reply  of  Hooker,  who,  stationed  at  the  Chancel- 
lorsville  House,  witnessed  the  battle. 

Soon  afterwards,  a  cannon  ball  struck  a  pillar  of  the 
porch  upon  which  he  stood ;  it  crashed  down,  and  Gen. 
Hooker  was  stunned,  and  temporarily  disabled.  He 
was  borne  off.  and  had  hardly  disappeared  when  his 
lines  gave  way. 

Then  followed  a  spectacle  in  which  tho  horrors  of 


OHANCELLORSVILLB.  191 

war  seemed  to  culminate.  The  forest  was  on  fire  —  the 
Chancellorsville  House  on  fire.  From  the  forest  rose 
quick  tongues  of  flame  —  from  the  windows  of  the 
houses  spouted  dense  columns  of  smoke,  swept  away  by 
the  wind.  In  the  depths  of  those  thickets,  dead  bodies 
were  being  consumed,  and  wounded  men  were  being 
burned  to  death.  Fire,  smoke,  blood,  uproar  —  trium 
phant  cheers  and  dying  groans  were  mingled.  In  front 
were  the  Confederates  pressing  on  with  shouts  of  "  Re 
member  Jackson  !  "  —  retreating  rapidly  towards  the 
river,  were  the  defeated  forces  of  Gen.  Hooker.  An 
derson  and  McLaws  had  connected  now  with  Stuart's 
right  —  and  at  ten  o'clock  Chancellorsville  was  in  Lee's 
possession. 

The  enemy  had  disappeared.  They  had  fallen  back 
rapidly  to  a  second  line  in  rear.  Here  heavy  earth 
works,  with  arms  stretching  out  towards  the  two  rivers., 
had  been  thrown  up,  to  protect  the  army  from  another 
assault.  To  a  pass  so  desperate  had  the  Federal  Gen 
eral  come  !  With  his  one  hundred  thousand  men,  he 
was  retreating  before  Lee's  thirty  or  forty  thousand, 
who  pushed  him  to  the  wall. 

And  yet  a  singular  dispatch  was  sent  by  him,  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day,  to  Sedgwick  : 

"  I  have  driven  the  enemy,  and  all  that  is  wanted  ia 
for  you  to  come  up  and  complete  Lee's  destruction.*'  * 

To  a  cool  observer,  it  would  have  seemed  that  Lee 
wa.«  about  to  complete  Hooker's.  His  right  and  left 
wings  were  now  united  ;  he  presented  to  the  enemy  an 
unoroken  fr^nt,  along  the  Old  Turnpike  facing  north 


'n  "  Annj  of  the  Potom*o,n  p.  800. 


ward —  and  the  signal  for  a  renewal  of  the  assault 
trembled  on  Lee's  lips.  It  was  not  littered.  News 
name  which  checked  it.  Gen.  Sedgwick,  with  liia 
twenty-two  thousand  men,  had  crossed  the  river  ai 
Fredericksburg ;  assaulted  Marye's  hill,  which  was 
held  by  artillery,  and  a  few  regiments;  carried  the 
heights  in  spite  of  desperate  resistance  from  the  Con^ 
federates,  who  fought,  hand  to  hand,  over  their  guns, 
for  the  crest — then,  driving  the  six  thousand  men  of 
Early  and  Barksdale  before  him,  Gen.  Sedgwick 
pushed  westward  over  the  Plank  Road  towards  Chan- 
ccllorsville. 

Hooker  charged  all  his  woes  on  the  delay  of  Sedg- 
Nvick — that  of  course.  Yet  the  blow  was  well  struck, 
and  quickly  struck.  "  It  was  about  eleven  o'clock  in 
the  morning  when  he  carried  the  heights,"  said  Sedg 
wick;  and  those  heights  were  Marye's  hill,  which 
Eooker  himself ,  on  the  13th  December,  1862,  had  not 
3een  able  to  carry  at  all.  At  that  time  he  described 
them  as  a  "  fortification,"  "  masonry,"  a  "  mountain  oi 
rock" — all  that  was  impregnable.  The  stonewall  at 
the  foot  of  them  was  an  insurmountable  obstacle,  he 
said,  which  no  artillery  could  make  "  a  breach  "  in  — no 
infantry  could  storm.  His  own  attack,  Gen.  Hooker 
informed  the  War  Committee,  had  been  resolute  and 
stubborn,  but  the  place  was  impregnable.  Nr  w.  when 
Sedgwick,  that  good  soldier,  took  an  hour  to  storm  it, 
iled  in  a  prompt  compliance  with  my  orders," 
in  my  judgment,  Gen.  Sedgwick  did  not  obey 
the  spirit  of  my  order."  * 

•  Hooker,  in  Conduct  of  the  War,  L,  180-1. 


CHANCELLOR8VTLLK  193 

At  least  he  stormed  the  famous  heights  ;  dro\  o  the 
Confederates  before  him ;  advanced  straight  on  Char 
cellorsville ;  and  at  the  moment  when  Lee  was  about 
to  crush  Hooker,  or  drive  him  into  the  river,  the  new  a 
came  that  Sedgwick  was  near  Salem,  a  few  miles  from 
him,  advancing  rapidly  to  attack  his  flank  and  rear. 

It  is  hard  to  read  the  imprinted  pages  of  the  Book 
of  Fate.  All  military  speculation  goes  for  what  it  is 
worth,  only.  But,  to  a  fair  critic,  it  would  seem  that 
the  presence  of  Sedgwick,  there  and  then,  saved 
Hooker  from  "destruction,"  and  deserved  something 
very  different  from  denunciation. 

Thus  Lee  was  compelled  to  forego  for  the  moment 
his  attack.  Wilcox's  brigade,  at  Banks's  Ford,  threw 
itself  in  Sedgwick's  front,  and  Lee  detached  a  divi 
sion  to  reinforce  it.  Thus  Hooker,  for  the  time,  could 
draw  his  breath  and  get  ready — Sedgwick  had  saved 
him. 

Monday  dawned,  and  found  the  armies  in  a  curious 
position.  Hooker  forced  back  on  the  Rappahannock  ; 
Lee  about  to  attack  him ;  Sedgwick  advancing  to  attack 
Lee ;  Early  again  holding  the  Fredericksburg  height* 
in  Sedgwick's  rear. 

Thus  Sedgwick  was  posted  between  Lee  and  Early  ; 
Lee  between  Sedgwick  and  Hooker.  What  would 
follow? 

Before  Monday  night  that  question  was  decided.  At 
six  in  the  evening.  Lee  threw  himself  upon  Sedgiiriek 
at  Salem  heights,  closed  in  in  stubborn  battle  with  that 
resolute  opponent ;  forced  him  back ;  and  at  nightfall 
drove  him  across  the  river  at  Banke  3  Ford,  where  a 
pontocn  had  been  laid  to  assist  hia  retreat  Short 
17 


CHANCELLOR8Y1LUL 


work  had  thus  been  made  of  the  twenty-two  thousand 
They  were  routed,  flying  —  over  their  heads,  as  they 
hurried  across  the  river,  burst  the  Southern  shell,  and 
the  hiss  of  bullets  hastened  them.  On  Tuesday,  l.c< 
returned  towards  Chancellorsville,  to  finish  Hooker. 

That  commander  seemed  now  completely  demoral- 
ized.  Sedgwick  defeated,  he  determined  to  rccross  the 
Rappahannock,  and  abandon  the  whole  campaign. 
And  yet  that  determination  was  strange.  His  force 
still  more  than  doubled  that  of  his  ad  versary.  Lee'e 
loss  had  been  ten  thousand,  leaving  him  in  all  thirty 
thousand.  Hooker's  loss  had  been  seventeen  thousand, 
leaving  him  in  all  one  hundred  and  three  thousand. 
With  Sedgwick  brought  over  the  river  on  Tuesday,  as 
he  might  have  been,  Gen.  Hooker  was  still  able  to  con 
front  thirty  thousand  men  with  one  hundred  thousand 

Those  were  the  respective  numbers  of  the  two 
armies  on  Tuesday,  the  5th  of  May  —  about  three  to 
one.  It  is  true  that  the  thirty  thousand  were  flushed 
with  victory,  and  the  one  hundred  thousand  demoral 
ized  with  defeat.  The  cavalry,  which  were  hardly  en 
gaged,  are  omitted  in  these  estimates. 

His  own  countrymen  declared  ^hat  Gen.  Hooker 
was  the  most  hopeless  individual  in  the  whole  army. 
He  seemed  painfully  to  lack  the  mens  o&qua  in  ardui-s, 
that  first  of  all  military  traits.  He  was  going  to  re 
treat. 

Retreat?  He  who  had  foretold  the  "certain  des 
truction"  of  his  adversary,  unless  he  "  ingioriously 
fled!"  "Who  had  said  that  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia  "  might  as  well  pack  up  their1  knapsacks"  — 
that  they  were  "  now  on  the  egitimate  property  of  the 


OHANGELLORSVILUL 

Army  of  the  Potomac  ? "  Who  had  coolly  described 
Lee's  army  as  made  up  of  a  "  rank  and  tile  vastly  in 
ferior  to  our  own  intellectually  and  physically!"* 
This  officer  retreat,  when  he  had  still  three  to  one ! 
When  only  thirty  thousand  men  confronted  tne  hun 
dred  thousand,  "  intellectually  and  physically "  Bupe 
rior  to  them !  The  thing  was  incredible. 

Yet  so  it  was.  To  the  remonstrances  of  his  brave 
officers,  Gen.  Hooker  replied  by  erecting  a  great  cres 
cent-shaped  earthwork,  three  miles  long,  from  river  to 
river,  in  the  bend,  and  by  laying  his  pontoons,  on  which 
pine  boughs  were  strewed  to  prevent  the  rumble  of 
artillery  wheels. 

This  was  done  on  Tuesday  night.  When  Lee  ad 
vanced  on  Wednesday  morning  to  administer  the  coup 
de  grace,  his  adversary  had  disappeared.  He  had  left 
behind  him  fourteen  pieces  of  artillery,  twenty  thou 
sand  stand  of  arms,  his  dead  and  his  wounded. 

On  the  next  day  Gen.  Hooker  issued  a  general  order 
to  the  troops,  in  which  he  said : 

"The  Major-General  commanding  tenders  to  hia 
army  his  congratulations  on  its  achievements  of  the 
last  seven  days.  .  .  .  The  events  of  the  last  week 
may  well  cause  the  heart  of  every  officer  and  soldier 
of  the  army  to  swell  with  pride.  We  have  added  new 
laurels  to  our  former  renown." 

Does  the  reader  imagine  that  we  have  made  a  plight 
mistake  and  quoted  Gen.  Lee's  order  instead  of  Gen. 
Hooker's  ?  No  —  Gen.  Hooker  wrote  that !  Such  was 
the  battle  of  Chancellorsville.  It  is  only  necessary  to 
add  that  the  cavalry  expedition  inder  Gen.  Stoneman 

•  Gen.  Hooker1!  Statement     Cond.  of  War. 


196  OHANCBLLOMVILLK 

effected  almost  nothing;  and  his  horsemen,  pursued 
and  harrassed  by  Gen.  W.  H.  F.  Lee,  hastened  back 
and  recrossed  the  Rappahannock. 

The  great  struggle  was  thus  over.  The  *arge  army 
of  Gen.  Hooker  had  retreated  beyond  the  Rappahan 
uock,  demoralized  and  shattered.  Victory  hovered 
above  the  Confederates  in  the  tangled  thickets  of  the 
Wilderness.  But  alas!  the  greatest  of  the  Southern 
soldiers  had  fallen. 

Jackson  was  dying — soon  he  was  dead.  When  the 
wave  of  death  swept  over  that  great  standard-bearer, 
and  carried  him  away,  the  red  flag  began  to  sink  in 
the  stormy  waters.  Inch  by  inch  it  went  under  —  -  at 
Gettysburg,  Spottsylvania,  and  Petersburg.  At  Ap- 
pomattox  Court  House  it  disappeared  beneath  the 
waves. 

That  was  spared  the  great  soul,  who  had  never  seen 
it  droop. 

When  he  fell  on  that  moonlight  night  in  the  Wil 
derness,  it  was  floating  still  t 


vm. 

GXTTTBLJBG. 

THERE  are  spots  of  the  earth's  surface,  over  which 
the  Angel  of  Death  seeins  to  hover.  Of  these  is  the 
town  of  Gettysburg,  in  Pennsylvania — unknown  in  tho 
month  of  June,  1863,  but  in  July  famous  as  that  other 
insignificant  hamlet  of  Waterloo,  in  July,  1815. 

"  Gettysburg !  Gettysburg ! "  •  —  that  is  a  cry  whicL 
has  escaped  from  many  a  bleeding  heart.  And  the 
hearts  which  bled  most  have  been  Southern  hearts. 
For  here,  not  only  was  the  most  precious  blood  of  the 
South  poured  out  like  water — here  the  fate  of  her 
great  sovereignties  was  decided.  Gettysburg  deter 
mined,  for  long  years  to  come,  at  least,  the  destiny  of 
the  North  American  Continent.  Here  was  the  real 
end  of  the  great  struggle,  not  at  Appomattox.  On  tho 
elopes  of  Round  Top  and  Cemetery  Hills,  those  two 
Titans,  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  and  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  so  long  warring  on  each  other,  grap 
pled  in  a  life  and  death  wrestle.  And  the  Southern 
Enceladus  was  thrown.  The  fall  broke  his  strength. 
All  the  movements  of  the  giant  thereafter  were  the 
mere  tossings  and  writhings  of  the  great  body,  weighed 
down  by  the  mountain  pressing  on  it.  When  Long- 
street  was  thrown  back  from  Round  Top,  and  the  Vii 


198  GBTTT8BUR0. 

ginians  under  Pickett  dashed  themselves  ir.  piece* 
vainly  against  Cemetery  Hill,  all  was  aver. 

Let  iis  be  understood.  The  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  was  not  shattered.  In  July  as  in  June,  Lee  had 
an  army  and  a  powerful  and  unbroken  one.  The  tem 
pered  steel  of  that  great  weapon  could  stand  more  than 
Gettysburg;  and  the  proof  is,  that  after  the  fight, 
Meade,  that  hardy  soldier,  kept  beyond  its  sweep.  The 
question  was  not  of  the  army's  morale  from  that  time 
forward,  but  of  the  country's.  Why  this  access  of  des 
pair  ?  Was  it  want  of  confidence  in  the  Executive  and 
heads  of  Departments?  Was  it  a  conviction  of  mis 
management,  ill-judgment,  partiality  in  the  civil  rulers? 
Was  it  loss  of  faith  in  God,  and  their  own  resources  ? 
Let  history  answer.  The  fact  remains.  Lee's  army  of 
seventy  thousand  at  Gettysburg,  in  June,  1863,  was  cut 
down  to  forty  thousand  in  Spottsylvania,  in  May,  1864. 
It  did  not  reach  the  last  named  number  when  from  the 
fifty  miles  of  earthworks  pressed  by  Grant  at  Peters 
burg,  Lee  vainly  besought  the  government  for  "  more 
men,  more  men ! " 

Thus  Gettysburg  is  one  of  those  great  combats  whicn 
Burn  up  and  terminate  an  epoch.  Let  us  see  what  led 
to  it,  and  how  it  was  fought. 

Hooker,  overwhelmed  at  Chancellorsville,  and  driven 
back  over  the  river,  the  Federal  arms  seemed  paralyzed, 
at  least  for  the  time.  Everything  prompted  a  move- 
men'  of  the  Southern  army  northward.  The  country 
was  ir  a  blaze  of  enthusiasm;  the  army  regarded  itself 
&£  invincible ;  the  authorities  at  Richmond  greeted 
sach  other  with  smiles ;  when  Lee  sent  thither  for  ra- 
ions,  the  Commissary -General,  in  high  good 


GSTTT8BUE&.  1W 

or  laboring  under  a  grand  conception,  endorsed,  it  ii 
said,  on  the  requisition,  "  If  Gen.  Lee  wishes  rations, 
let  him  seek  them  in  Pennsylvania." 

Lee  obeyed  the  wish  of  the  country.  Chancellors-- 
ville  was  fought  on  the  third  day  of  May,  —  on  the 
third  day  of  June,  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia  was 
on  the  road  to  Gettysburg. 

Let  ns  look  at  the  great  chess-board,  and  endeavor 
to  comprehend  the  "  situation ''  and  the  plans  of  Lee. 
Hooker  was  on  the  Rappahannock,  and  it  was  desirable 
to  draw  him  out  of  Virginia.  Tin's  could  only  be  done 
by  advancing  to  invade  the  North.  By  moving  through 
the  gaps  of  the  Blue  Ridge,  toward  the  Potomac,  Lee 
would  accomplish  one  of  two  things,  —  he  would  force 
Hooker  to  follow  him,  or  compel  that  commander  to 
advance  upon  Richmond.  If  he  adopted  the  latter 
alternative,  Lee  would  be  in  his  rear;  could  move 
upon  Washington ;  and,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
"  swap  queens,"  — one  capital  for  the  other.  This  bold 
move  was  not  anticipated,  however.  Hooker  would 
fall  back  under  orders  from  his  government  to  protect 
the  Federal  capital.  Then  Lee,  still  advancing,  would 
draw  him  into  Maryland,  into  Pennsylvania.  Then, 
Beauregard  was  to  hasten  forward  to  Culpeper  Court 
House,*  and  threaten  Washington,  diverting  a  portion 
of  Hooker's  troops  from  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  for 
its  protection,  —  or  that  whole  army.  If  a  portion, 
then  Lee  would  fight  his  opporent  at  a  disadvantage 


*  This  portion  of  Lee's  plan  was  revealed  in  the  dispatch  from 
President  Davis,  on  the  person  of  the  courier  captured  at  Eager* 
town,  on  the  2d  of  July. 


fOO  QBTTY8BURO. 

If  the  whole  army,  then  Harrisburg,  Philadelphia,  pel 
haps,  would  fall. 

Then  a  treaty  of  peace,  —  a  document  such  as  thi 
world  had  never  Been  before,  —  an  agreement  wnsiat- 
ing  of  one  article  only : 

"  Let  us  alone,  and  we  will  let  you  alone!" 

Such,  it  would  seem,  were  the  plans  of  Gen.  Lee 
i'l  June,  1863 ;  such  the  splendid  prize  which  lured 
him  on  to  that  magnificent  march.  It  will  live  in  his 
tory  as  one  of  the  greatest  in  the  annals  of  war.  Let 
us,  therefore,  follow  the  steps  of  the  Confederate  com 
mander,  from  the  first  movement  of  his  infantry  into 
Oulpeper  to  his  appearance  at  the  head  of  sixty-sevon 
thousand  bayonets  in  front  of  Gettysburg. 

About  to  move,  Lee  ordered  a  review  of  Stuart's 
cavalry.  It  took  place  in  a  plain  not  far  from  Brandy 
Station,  and  the  horsemen  charged,  shouts  resounded, 
the  artillery  roared  in  mimic  battle  as  the  troopers, 
sword  in  hand,  rushed  upon  it,  —  beneath  a  great  pole 
from  which  floated  the  Confederate  banner,  Gen.  Lee, 
calm  and  silent,  sat  his  horse,  looking  on. 

No  sooner  had  the  thunders  of  the  mimic  battle  died 
away,  than  the  cannon  began  again,  and  this  time  hi 
earnest.  Gen.  Hooker  had  sent  over  two  divisions  of 
cavalry,  supported  by  two  "  picked  brigades  "  of  infan 
try,  with  artillery,  to  discover  the  meaning  of  all  tliis 
noise.  Stuart  met  them  with  his  cavalry  on  Fleetwood 
Flill,  near  Brandy  Station,  and  throughout  all  a  June 
"lay  wrestled  with  them  in  obstinate  fight.  At  sunset 
I  hey  were  repulsed  and  driven  beyond  the  river  again, 
but  one  thing  had  been  accomplished :  Lee's  bayo 
nets  had  been  Been  in  the  Culpeper  woods,  and  tliui 


301 


the  presence  of  a  portion  of  his  infantry  there  was 
kno  \m.  This,  and  the  fact  that  A..  P.  Hill  was  still  on 
the  heights  of  Fredericksburg,  summed  up  the  knowl 
edge  of  Gen.  Hooker  in  reference  to  the  movements  oi 
his  antagonist. 

Hill's  presence  there  at  Fredericksburg  was  tempt 
ing.  Why  not  cross  the  Rappahaimock,  cut  him  to 
pieces  before  Lee  could  succor  him,  and  advance  on 
Richmond  ?  Hooker  suggested  that  plan,  but  Presi 
dent  Lincoln  demurred.  His  views  were  expressed  in 
that  rough  and  homely  style,  which,  wanting  in  the 
dignity  which  Washington  had  set  the  example  of  to 
all  in  his  "  great  office,"  was  not  deficient  in  a  rude 
pith,  and  good  sense  : 

"In  case  you  find  Lee  coming  to  the  north  of  the 
Rappahannock,"  wrote  Lincoln  to  Hooker,  "  I  would 
by  no  means  cross  to  the  south  of  it.  I  would  not  take 
any  risk  of  being  entangled  upon  the  river,  like  an  ox 
jumped  half  over  a  fence,  and  liable  to  be  torn  by  dogs, 
front  and  rear,  without  a  fair  chance  to  gore  one  way 
or  kick  the  other." 

Five  days  afterwards,  the  President  wrote  once 
more: 

"  I  think  Lee's  army,  and  not  Richmond,  is  your  true 
objective  point.  If  he  comes  towards  the  Upper  Po 
tomac,  fight  him  when  opportunity  offers.  If  he  stays 
where  he  is  (in  Culpeper),  fret  Mm.  and  fret  him" 

President  Lincoln  and  his  Lieutenant  were  thus  spec 
ulating  and  consulting  on  the  probable  intentions  of 
their  antagonist,  when  startling  intelligence  reached 
them  from  the  Shenandoah  Yalley.  Lee  had  executed 
a  movement  as  successful  as  it  was  hazardous.  With  on* 


BOS  QfTTYEBTTRQ. 

eorps  of  his  army,  under  Hill,  at  Frederic  £&brjg,  and 
another  under  Longstreet,  on  the  banks  of  the  Rapidan 
he  had  pushed  forward  the  third,  under  Ewell,  by  wa\ 
of  Chester's  Gap,  into  the  Shenandoah  Valley  -  -  thru 
making  of  his  army,  directly  in  face  of  the  enemy,  .1 
skirmish  line,  stretching  over  about  one  hundred  miles. 
Then  the  object  of  tin's  movement  soon  appeared. 
Swell's  infantry  wound  through  the  mountain  gorge, 
crossed  the  Shenandoah  at  Front  Royal,  and  pushing 
rapidly  forward,  attacked  Milroy  at  Winchester,  driv 
ing  him  thence  with  a  loss  of  four  thousand  prisoners, 
twenty-nine  pieces  of  artillery,  and  a  great  mass  of 
military  stores.  Gen.  Milroy  had  cruelly  tyrannized 
over  the  unhappy  people,  ruling  the  whole  country 
with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  in  one  day  swift  retribution 
had  come  upon  him.  Driven  from  his  "  Star  Fort "  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  hurried  on  his  way  with  shot 
and  shell ;  cut  off  and  overwhelmed  by  a  ferce  sent  to 
his  rear,  lie  had  scarcely  the  time  to  escape  in  person, 
with  a  handful  of  men,  across  the  Potomac. 

"  In  my  opinion,"  wrote  Hooker,  on  the  25th  of  June, 

Milroy's  men  will  fight  better  under  a  soldier." 

That  was  his  epitaph  ! 

Having  thus  brushed  away  this  hornet's  nest,  Ewe II 
pushed  for  Maryland,  and  this  was  the  intelligence 
«rhich  came  to  strike  at  the  same  moment  President 
Lincoln  at  Washington,  and  Gen.  Hooker  on  the  Rap 
pahannock.  It  drew  forth  one  of  Lincoln's  most  char 
acteristic  dispatches — a  curious  document,  full  of  good 
judgment,  mingled  with  a  sort  of  grotesque  humor : 

"  If  the  head  of  Lee's  army  i»  at  Martinsburg,"  \rrot« 


GXTTYSBUSQ.  JCJ 

Lincoln, "  and  the  tail  of  it  on  the  P.ank  lioad  oetwees 
Fredericksburg  and  Chancer.orville,  the  animal  n  uxt 
be  very  slim  somewhere — could  you  not  Tweak  him? 

"A.    LINCOLN." 

There  was  little  of  the  verbiage  of  "  official  dignity" 
there,  and  no  "distinguished  considerations;"  but  there 
was  good  sense.  George  Washington  and  John  Adams 
— different  personages  from  Lincoln  —  would  never 
have  used  those  words,  but  the  suggestion  was  none  the 
less  valuable.  Gen.  Hooker  ought  to  have  struck  at 
that  long,  slim  line,  stretched  out  over  one  or  two  hun 
dred  miles.  Instead  of  doing  so,  he  fell  back  to  pro 
tect  Washington. 

The  great  game  of  chess  was  now  in  full  progress. 
Lee's  strategy  had  met  with  admirable  success.  Hook 
er  was  afraid  to  move  upon  Richmond :  afraid  to  attack 
his  opponent's  flank ;  he  was  falling  back  to  guard  his 
own  territory  and  capital.  Thus  Lee  advanced  with 
out  hindrance  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  designs; 
the  three  corps  of  his  army  moved  on  steadily,  guided 
by  the  master  mind. 

Ewell  had  pushed  into  the  valley,  and  Longstreet 
inarched  up  to  guard  his  rear.  Ewell  advanced  tow- 
wd  the  Potomac,  and  Longstreet  followed.  Then 
into  the  gap  behind  Longstreet,  thus  moving  on,  came 
up  Hill  from  Fredericksburg.  Thus  corps  by  corps, 
the  Confederate  arms  streamed  northward,  ready  to 
concentrate  and  give  battle  at  any  moment,  if  Hooker 
had  the  boldness  to  attack. 

The  perplexity  of  that  personage  seems  to  have  ceen 
extreme.  He  was  ignorant  of  Lee's  designs.  Did  th« 


0BTTY8BUB0. 


Confederate  commander  intend  to  advance  into  Penn 
sylvania,  or  was  this  great  movement  designed  fco  tempt 
his  adversary  to  attack  on  the  Rappahannock,  when  Lee 
would  sweep  down  on  his  right  and  rear,  interposing  be 
tween  him  and  Washington  ?  The  latter  was  probable, 
and  Gen.  Hooker  fell  back  to  Manassas.  But  then  his 
perplexities  increased.  Did  Lee  intend  a  real  invasion, 
or  was  he  only  waiting  for  Hooker  to  cross  the  Poto 
mac-,  to  pass  the  Blue  Ridge,  and  advance  upon  Wash 
ington  ? 

Gen.  Hooker  was  in  a  maze,  as  were  his  most  expe 
rienced  advisers. 

"  Try  and  hunt  up  somebody  from  Pennsylvania," 
wrote  his  Chief  of  Staff,  Gen.  Butterfield,  as  late  as 
June  17th,  "who  knows  something,  and  has  a  cool 
enough  head  to  judge  what  is  the  actual  state  of  affairs 
there  with  regard  to  the  enemy.  My  impression  is  that 
Lee's  movement  on  the  Upper  Potomac  is  a  cover  for 
a  cavalry  raid  on  the  south  side  of  tfie  rwer.  .  .  . 
We  cannot  go  boggling  round  until  we  know  what 
we  are  going  after." 

To  terminate  if  possible  this  paralysis  of  doubt, 
Gen.  Hooker  sent  out  a  powerful  force  of  cavalry  and 
infantry  from  Aldie  toward  the  Blue  Ridge,  drove 
Stuart  before  him,  in  spite  of  obstinate  resistance,  and 
at  Ashby's  Gap  Longstreet's  forces,  which  had  ad 
vanced  along  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Ridge,  were  sud 
denly  unmasked.  Through  Chester's  Gap,  in  his  rear, 
Hill  had  rapidly  passed  into  the  valley.  Tuus  all  that 
was  discovered  amounted  to  this  alone  —  that  Lee's 
whole  army  was  in  the  valley.  What  was  his  design  1 
at  once  came  a  wild  cry  of  terror,  borne  on  thp 


SOI 

wind  from  Pennsylvania.  Southern  tiovpere  rere 
swarming  in  the  country  around  Chambersburg ;  the 
inhabitants  were  flying  with  their  horses  and  cattle  to 
the  mountains ;  the  whole  State  was  in  a  blaze  of  ex- 
oitemont  and  apprehension.  Then  came  woree  new? 
still.  This  was  no  mere  "cavalry  raid.''  Ewell's  in 
fantry  had  followed  the  cavalry;  Longstreet  and  Hill 
were  crossing  the  Potomac  at  Willianisport,  ana  Shep- 
herdstown  in  his  rear.  Lee's  whole  army  was  advanc 
ing  rapidly  into  the  Cumberland  Valley. 

General  Hooker  was  thus  certain  of  his  adversary's 
plans.  He  was  no  longer  apprehensive  of  an  attack 
upon  Washington  from  the  Virginia  side  of  the  Poto 
mac,  and  hastened  to- cross  that  river  near  Leesburg,  to 
follow  Lee.  This  crossing  was  effected  on  the  26th  of 
June ;  h.is  force  was  rapidly  concentrated  in  the  vicin 
ity  of  Frederick  City,  when,  on  the  very  next  day,  the 
army  was  startled  by  the  announcement  that  Gen 
Hooker  had  been  relieved  from  command. 

Such  was  the  fact.  Gen.  Hooker's  head  had  fallen 
at  Frederick  City,  as  Gen.  McClellan's  had  at  Warren- 
ton —  in  the  midst  of  a  great  movement.  The  oppo 
nent  of  both,  also,  was  the  General-in-Chief,  Halleck. 
But  there  was  this  difference:  McClellan  was  sur- 
piised,  nay,  astounded,  and  bitterly  resented  the  unex 
pected  blow  struck  at  him.  Hooker  accepted  his  fate 
serenely — for  he  had  applied  to  be  relieved.*  The 
cause  of  all  was  Harper's  Ferry,  where  ten  thousand 
troops  still  remained,  and  were  of  no  earthly  use 
Hooker  wished  tc  utilize  them,  but  the  General 

•Oood.  of  War,  L,m 


906  QSTTT&BURQ. 

in-Cldef  would  not  permit  it  Every  human  being  haa 
liis  hobby  —  Gen.  Halleck's  was  Harper's  Ferry 
When  Gen.  Hooker  stumbled  against  it,  Gen.  Hallo  :;k 
was  inexorable.  Thereupon,  Gen.  Hooker  requested 
to  be  relieved  —  and  was  relieved. 

The  command  thus  falling  from  Hooker's  hands, 
was  assumed  by  General  Meade,  a  soldier  and  a  gen 
tleman. 

Meade  did  not  order  a  single  trumpet  to  be  blown 
when  he  took  command ;  did  not  promise  in  any  gen 
eral  order  to  annihilate  his  opponent  as  soon  as  he 
could  come  up  with  him ;  did  not  criticise  the  move 
ments  of  his  predecessor,  or  vaunt  his  own  prowess. 
He  knew  of  what  stuff  his  great  adversary,  Lee,  was 
made,  and  the  metal  of  the  army  which  followed  him. 
A.  mortal  combat  was  before  him,  of  which  the  issue 
was  far  from  certain,  and  with  becoming  gravity  and 
dignity,  Gen.  Meade  assumed  the  great  responsibility 
thrust  upon  him,  not  sought  by  him. 

There  are  men  whom  you  are  compelled  to  respect 
as  your  enemies,  as  you  would  admire  them  were 
they  your  friends.  Meade  belonged  to  that  class. 

Hooker  disappeared  —  Meade  succeeded  him  —  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  did  not  exhibit  by  a  single  tre 
mor  even  the  consciousness  that  another  hand  grasped 
.he  helm.  It  moved  on  from  Frederick  City  north 
ward  to  offer  battle  to  Lee. 

Let  us  return  to  that  officer  now,  and  look  at  the 
invasion  from  a  Confederate  point  of  view.  In  the 
last  days  of  June,  Ewell  had  passed  through  Chambers- 
burg,  occupied  Carlisle,  and  penetrated  to  within  sight 
of  Harrisbnig,  the  capital  of  Pennsylvania.  Lee 


QBTTY&BU&G. 


had  followed  as  far  as  Chambersburg,  with  the  two 
corps  of  Hill  and  Longstreet. 

For  the  first  time  soldiers  of  the  Confederate  States 
army  were  encamped  on  the  soil  of  Pennsylvania. 
What  wa.3  their  deportment  there?  What  was  Use 
result  for  the  inhabitants  ? 

Plunder,  cruelty,  and  outrage?  Why  not?  Had 
not  Gen.  Pope  made  a  desert  of  Culpeper,  destroying 
without  remorse  every  species  of  private  property, 
seizing  furniture  and  clothing,  the  bread  and  meat  of 
women  and  children,  burning  the  very  houses  over 
their  heads,  the  ruins  of  which  may  still  be  seen? 
Had  not  Hilroy  made  a  hell  of  the  country  around 
Winchester  ?  Had  not  subordinate  officers  —  Stahl  and 
Steinwehr  and  others  —  oppressed  the  unfortunate  peo 
ple  beyond  all  power  of  words  ?  Had  not  the  war,  long 
before,  become  a  war  upon  women  and  children,  and 
gray-beards  —  upon  their  property,  their  liberty,  and 
their  lives?  If  Lee  retaliated,  would  history  blame 
him  very  severely?  Would  he  not  retaliate,  now  that 
he  was  in  the  enemy's  territory,  making  them  realize 
the  horrors  which  the  Federal  troops  had  inflicted  upon 
Virginia  ? 

If  any  one  thought  that  of  Lee,  he  was  speedily 
undeceived.  Here  is  what  he  said  to  his  army  at 
Chambersburg,  in  the  heart  of  Pennsylvania,  June  27, 
1863: 

"The  Commanding  General  3onsiders  that  no 
greater  disgrace  could  befall  the  army,  and  through  it 
our  whole  people,  than  the  perpetration  of  the  bar 
barous  outrages  on  the  innocent  and  the  defenceless, 
and  the  wanton  destruction  of  private  property,  that 


90*  GSTTY8BUSG. 

have  marked  the  course  of  the  enemy  i^i  :>m  own  com* 
try.  It  must  be  remembered  that  we  make  war  only 
upon  armed  men.  The  Commanding  General,  there 
fore,  earnestly  exhorts  the  troops  to  abstain,  with  most 
scrupulous  care,  from  unnecessary  or  wanton  injury  to 
private  property,  and  he  enjoins  upon  all  officers  to 
arrest  and  bring  to  summary  punishment  att  who 
shatt  in  any  way  offend  against  the  orders  on  this 
subject? 

Such  was  Lee's  order — and  it  was  obeyed.  Here  is 
the  declaration  of  a  Pennsylvanian,  upon  whose  prop 
erty  a  portion  of  the  army  had  encamped : 

"  I  must  say  they  acted  like  gentlemen,  and,  their 
cause  aside,  I  would  rather  have  forty  thousand  rebels 
quartered  on  my  premises  than  one  thousand  Union 
troops."* 

And  one  of  the  Richmond  journals,  bitterly  criticis 
ing  Lee's  clemency,  made  the  sneering  statements  that 
he  flamed  out  at  the  robbing  even  of  the  cherry-trees, 
and  if  he  saw  the  top  rail  thrown  from  a  fence  as  he 
was  passing,  would  dismount  and  replace  it  with  his 
own  hands  1 

Such  was  the  contrast  between  the  Federal  and  Con 
federate  invasions.  Why  is  the  parallel  drawn  ?  Does 
any  one  care?  No  —  the  world  is  deaf  to  all  that 
etory,  to-day.  The  South  has  committed  the  greatest 
of  crimes  —  she  has  failed,  and  has  no  advocate.  The 
trntt  is  eternal  —  is  mighty  —  and  some  day  will  pre 
vail.  The  mills  of  the  gods  grind  slowly  —  behind 
tlw  blackest  cloud  is  the  sunshine ;  to-morrow,  or  the 

»  Cfer.  S.  T.  Com.  Advertiser,  July  7, 1888, 


SOt 


next  year,  or  the  next  generation,  that  sna  of  truth 
will  show  itself,  and  everything  will  appear  in  its  real 
colors. 

Then  the  world  will  know  what  it  is  to  act  as  a 
Christian  gentleman,  whatever  wrongs  have  fired  the 
blood  —  will  see  the  grand  proportions  of  the  Virgin 
ian,  Lee,  and  estimate  him  truly. 

An  outline  has  been  presented  of  the  movements  of 
the  two  armies  from  the  Rappahannock,  northward. 

We  are  now  at  the  1st  of  July,  and  on  the  thresh 
old  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

To  that  "  strategic  point  "  —  a  sort  of  wheel-hub, 
from  which  radiate,  like  spokes,  roads  running  in  every 
direction  —  the  two  armies  advanced,  as  though 
dragged  by  the  hand  of  destiny.  It  was  the  inexor 
able  law  of  war,  however,  not  fate,  which  forced  the 
adversaries  to  converge  upon  that  point.  Lee  was 
looking  forward  to  Harrisburg  —  Meade  back  to  Pipe 
Creek,  toward  Washington.  But  Gettysburg  said, 
"Come!" 

Lee  had  been  at  Chambersburg  with  the  main  body 
of  his  army,  under  Longstreet  and  HilL  Ewell  had 
meanwhile  been  sent  on  with  his  corps  toward  the 
Susquehannah.  He  had  steadily  advanced,  occupied 
Carlisle,  come  in  sight  of  Harrisburg,  was  about  to 
attack,  when  a  summons  came  from  Lee  to  rejoin  the 
mam  army  at  Gettysburg. 

In  fact  the  rapid  advance  of  Gen.  Meade  made  this 
movement  indispensable.  Lee's  communications  with 
Virginia  were  menaced;  it  was  necessary  to  guard 
them,  and,  recognizing  this  necessity,  the  Confederate 
commander  turned  to  the  right  at  Chambersburg, 
18* 


crowed  the  South  Mountain,  and,  on  the  morning  of 
the  firet  of  July,  was  advancing  to  give  bat'le  to  his 
adversary.  In  expectation  of  this  encounter,  Ewell 
had  been  recalled.  Gen.  Meade  also  saw  the  shadow 
jf  the  great  event  approaching,  and  hurried  forward. 
The  heads  of  the  two  columns  came  together,  and  the 
*  first  day's  fight  at  Gettysburg  "  followed. 

From  the  moment  when  the  blue  and  gray  soldiera 
canght  sight  of  each  other,  the  thunder  began  to  roar. 
Buford's  cavalry,  pushing  out  west  of  Gettysburg 
about  a  mile,  on  this  morning,  suddenly  struck  up 
against  the  advance  brigades  of  A.  P.  Hill.  Then 
followed  a  result  which  invariably  characterizes  en 
counters  between  infantry  and  cavalry.  Gen.  Buford 
fought  hard,  but  his  horsemen  recoiled  before  the  bay 
onets  of  Hillj  and  he  was  being  driven  back  when 
General  Reynolds  hastened  forward  with  his  infantry. 

line  of  battle  was  then  formed  by  the  opposing 
commanders  upon  ridges,  facing  each  other,  west  of 
Gettysburg,  and  the  battle  began  in  earnest 

Lee  and  Meade,  in  the  rear,  ware  startled  by  that 
sound,  for  neither  expected  or  desired  a  battle  to  be 
fought  there.  Each  appreciating  the  courage  and  re- 
eources  of  his  adversary,  felt  that  the  result  of  the 
coming  conflict  largely  depended  upon  manoeuvring 
and  position;  to  be  thus  plunged  unawares  into  the 
straggle,  suited  neither. 

But  the  dice-box  had  been  rattled  in  the  hand  of 
fate,  and  the  die  was  cast.  The  war-dogs  had  begun 
to  growl,  and  they  could  not  be  dragged  back. 

Thus  did  ii;  happen  that  the  collision  of  the  rdvance 
guards  of  the  two  armies  brought  on  what  became 


nearly  a  decisive  engagement.  It  might  Wve  been 
virtually  made  so  by  the  Confederates,  if  that  night 
they  had  seized  upon  Cemetery  Hill  Ifeci^re  of 
all,  perhaps — of  much,  certainly. 

Before  noon  Lee  and  Meade  had  sent  forward,  di  *i 
toon  by  division,  powerful  reinforcements  to  the  eel- 
onms  engaged.  Thus  the  "affair  of  advance  guards* 
bad  become  a  wrestle  of  two  armies.  It  was  a  lovely 
country  and  a  lovely  day,  which  looked  on  that  hurly- 
burly  of  fierce  passions.  The  fields  were  green  with 
grass,  or  golden  with  the  ripe  grain,  over  which  a  gen 
tle  breeze  passed.  The  landscape  -was  broken  by 
Is :  in  the  west  rose  blue  mountains ;  die  sun 
was  shining  brilliantly  through  showery  clouds;  in 
the  east  the  heavens  were  spanned  by  a  magnificent 


'.::'.   r.er   ..Hi:.  w;n:e  vn::^.  :::e   y:tyiii£  eye?  winch 

.  • 

The  opposing  lines  are  drawn  i;p  on  the  two  ri 


Sit 


facing  each  other,  a  mile  west  of  Gettysburg, 
Willoughbj  Run,  a  small  stream,  between  them.  Hill, 
driving  Buford,  takes  the  initiative,  and  throws  his 
right  across  the  stream.  It  is  speedily  assailed,  aud; 
attacking  with  the  greatest  gallantry,  the  Federal 
forces  which  have  hurried  f  orward>  envelop  and  cap 
ture  Gen.  Archer,  with  several  hundred  men,  and  BOOT) 
afterwards  two  regiments  of  Mississippians  meet  with 
the  same  fate.  Surroubded  in  a  ravine,  they  arc 
seized,  and  triumphantly  borne  off,  with  their  battle- 
flags.  Thus,  for  the  moment,  fortune  seems  to  smile 
upon  the  blue,  and  frown  upon  the  gray. 

But  a  great  miofortune  to  the  Federal  side  has  come 
to  balance  this  success.  They  have  lost  their  brave 
Gen.  Reynolds,  corps  commander.  Hurrying  fonvard 
to  meet  Hill,  he  has  fallen,  struck  in  the  neck  by  a 
bullet,  and  is  borne  to  the  rear,  already  dying. 

But  Federal  reinforcements  continue  to  push  for 
ward  to  the  scene  of  action.  The  men  advance  gaily, 
exclaiming,  ""We  have  come  to  stay!"  It  is  one  of 
their  otvn  officers,  Gen.  Doubleday,  who  is  going 
before  the  Committee  on  the  War  to  utter  coolly  the 
terrible  witticism  : 

"And  a  very  large  portion  of  them  never  left  that 
ground  !  "* 

Hill's  advance  force,  thus  hard  pushed,  holds  its 
ground  with  the  old  gallantry,  shown  in  so  many  bat 
tles,  but  the  pressure  on  it  is  heavy.  Moving  nioro  tc 
the  left,  Hill  concentrates,  and  offers  a  determined 
when  all  at  once  a  welcome  sight  greets  hi*  eye* 

*  Good,  of  War,  L  ,  p.  807. 


11  n 


It  is  a  long  line  of  bayonets,  emerging  from  ihe  north 
ern  woods,  and  the  glimmer  of  gray  uniforms. 

This  force  is  Ewell's.  He  has  hurried  fcrward  from 
the  banks  of  the  Susquehannah  at  the  summons  of 
Lee,  pushed  straight  for  Gettysburg,  and  here  he  is, 
soming  into  line  on  Hill's  left  flank,  opposite  the  Fed 
eral  right.  He  seizes  upon  Oak  Hill,  a  commanding 
eminence  then,  forms  Rodes'  division,  all  that  has  yet 
arrived,  for  battle,  and  the  thunder  of  the  guns  upon 
his  left  tells  Hill  that  the  engagement  is  about  to  take 
a  new  phase. 

The  enemy,  too,  see  that.  They  hurry  forward  a 
fresh  corps,  and  place  it  on  the  right  of  their  former 
line,  and  thus  envelop  Gettysburg  on  the  west  and 
north,  both.  Their  line  is  a  crescent,  with  its  left  half 
opposite  •  Hill,  its  right  half  opposite  Rhodes.  Then 
the  thunders  are  redoubled. 

The  battle  rages  all  along  the  shores  of  Willoughby 
Run,  in  the  fields  below  Seminary  Ridge  —  the  lines 
bending  to  and  fro,  the  hills  bellowing.  From  the 
roofs  and  steeples  of  Gettysburg  affrighted  burghers 
look  on  stupefied.  By  the  roads  in  rear,  long  strings 
of  panting  Dutchmen  are  seen  wending  their  way  hur 
riedly,  to  the  rear;  —  "Stalwart,  able-bodied  wretches, 
in  men's  garments,"  a  Northern  correspondent  of  the 
New  York  Commercial  Advertiser*  calls  them  —  the 

*  rhe  same  correspondent  writes  in  a  manner  far  from  compli 
mentary  to  the  Gettysburghers  :  "There  are,"  he  says,  "some  of 
the  most  intensely  mean  persons  in  this  neighborhood  that  the 
world  produces.  On  Thursday,  a  bill  of  seventeen  hundred  dollars 
was  presented  to  Gen.  Howard  for  damage  to  the  cemetery  during 
the  night.  One  man  presented  Gen.  Howa/rd  a  bitt  for  thirty-iewn 
and  a  half  <*nti  far  four  brick*  knocked  off  the  cManty  of  hit  faint 


814  GETTYSBURG. 

Arcady  of  the  day  before  has  become  a  accrue  of  con 
flict  bitter  beyond  expression. 

The  Federal  lines  are  stretched  thus  over  the  great 
fields  west  and  north  of  the  town,  and  seein  about  to 
drive  the  Confederate  forces  in  their  front,  when  a  sec 
ond  reinf orcement  appears  coming  from  the  north.  It 
is  Early,  commanding  Ewell's  second  division,  and 
Early  takes  his  position  npon  Rodes'  left.  Thus  tho 
Confederate  line  has  swept  round  in  a  semicircle,  adapt- 
*ng  itself  to  the  enemy's — Early  on  its  left,  Rodes  in 
the  centre,  Hill's  troops  upon  the  right. 

But  between  the  right  and  left  wings  of  the  Federal 
army  is  a  gap.  Ewell  sees  it,  and  gets  ready.  At 
three  o'clock  the  great  blow  is  delivered. 

Rodes,  holding  Oak  Hill,  opposite  the  Federal  cen 
tre,  hammers  at  it  with  his  guns;  then  suddenly  he 
rushes  forward,  and  breaks  the  Federal  lines  asunder, 
as  an  iron  wedge  splits  a  tree-trunk.  His  attack 
sweeps  away  the  right  of  one  corps  and  the  left  of 
another ;  the  Federal  army  is  pierced,  and  Early  and 
Gordon,  advancing  at  the  same  time  against  their  right 
wing,  the  whole  line  is  thrown  into  confusion,  doubled 
up,  and  driven  back,  wildly  flying,  into  Gettysburg, 
through  which  the  disordered  regiments  stream  rap 
idly,  on  their  way  to  Cemetery  HilL  The  day  is  lost. 

by  our  artillery.  Our  wearied,  and,  in  many  instances,  wounded 
soldiers  found  pumps  locked  so  that  they  could  not  get  waUr.  A 
hungry  officer  asked  a  woman  for  something  to  eat,  and  she  first  in 
quired  how  much  he  would  pay.  Another  asked  for  a  drink  of 
iD-ITt^  and  the  female  wished  to  know  if  he  had  any  change.  Three 
persons  were  not  poor,  but  among  the  most  substantial  citizens  oi 
the  town  and  vicinity."  —  Cor.  Jf.  T.  Oom.  AdtertUer,  July  7 
IMS. 


GBTTY8BUX9. 


The  Federal  foroes  are  in  full  retreat,  leaving  gunt, 
flags,  and  five  thousand  prisoners  in  the  hands  of  the 
Confederates.  Gen.  Hancock,  sent  by  Meade,  gallopi 
up  only  to  find  that  the  day  is  decided  —  the  advance 
corps  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  overwhelmed  ;  worse 
than  all,  that  Cemetery  Hill,  that  frowning  rampart, 
the  key-position  of  the  whole,  is  only  held  by  a  single 
brigade,  supported  by  the  cavalry  of  Buford. 

Has  the  reader  of  this  page  ever  visited  Gettysburg? 
It  so,  he  will  comprehend  the  terrible  significance 
of  this  fact.  Holding  that  powerful  position,  made, 
one  would  say,  for  artillery  —  with  his  right  and  left 
resting  firmly  on  the  rugged  slopes  of  Gulp's  and 
Round-Top  Hills  —  Gen.  Meade  could  bid  defiance  to 
his  adversary,  and  drive  back  any  force  which  came 
against  him.  Losing  possession  of  that  range  —  forced 
back  from  it  by  the  columns  of  Lee  —  that  was  to  ruin 
Gen.  Meade  ;  for  Lee  once  occupying  Cemetery  Hill, 
there  was  nothing  left  for  the  Federal  commander  but 
retreat. 

On  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  July,  1863,  the  fate  of 
the  Confederacy  was  decided,  it  would  seem,  by  the 
failure  of  the  Confederates  to  advance  and  seize  the 
great  fortress  thus  within  their  very  grasp.  Who  waa 
to  blame  ?  History  must  answer  the  quest/  >n.  What 
is  certain  is,  that  the  hill  was  not  occupied.  It  was 
held  by  one  brigaae,  some  cavalry,  and  the  disordered 
remnants  of  the  two  defeated  corps,  only  —  and  no  at 
tack  was  made. 

The  moment  passed.  Hancock  strained  every  nerve. 
Meade  hurried  forwa  i  with  his  main  body.  The  hills 
•warmed  with  troops.  On  the  next  morning.  Gen.  Lee 


816  OJ9TTT8BUSO. 

saw  in  front  of  him,  on  that  impregnable  re  rtreas,  the 

glittering  bayonets  and  bristling  cannon  of  nearly  the 
whole  Army  of  the  Potomac. 

Let  us  look  now  at  the  ground  upon  which  the  final 
struggle  was  about  to  take  place. 

Cemetery  Ridge,  a  line  of  hills  running  northward 
toward  the  town  of  Gettysburg,  bends  eastward  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  place,  and  terminates  in  the  rude  ac 
divity  of  Gulp's  Hill.  There  rested  Meade's  right 

At  the  southern  end  of  the  ridge  rises  Round-Top 
Hill,  a  nigged  and  almost  perpendicular  peak  —  wild, 
frowning,  jagged,  bristling  with  woods.  Here  rested 
Meade's  left. 

Along  the  crest  of  the  range,  between  these  tw« 
points,  were  drawn  up  his  inf antry  and  artillery,  ready 
for  battle. 

Lee  occupied  a  range  nearly  parallel  with  liis  oppo 
nent,  but  lower,  and  commanded  by  it  —  Seminary 
Ridge.  His  right,  held  by  Longstreet,  was  opposite 
Round-Top  —  his  left,  commanded  by  Ewell,  bent 
round,  east  of  Gettysburg,  conforming  itself  to  the 
enemy's  line,  and  faced  Meade's  right  on  Gulp's  Hill. 

A.  P.  Hill  held  the  centre. 

Between  the  opposing  ranges  was  a  little  valley  trav 
ersed  by  a  stream,  and  waving  with  golden  wheat,  over 
which  ran  shadows  as  the  breeze  touched  it. 

In  the  midst  of  this  lovely  land,  smiling  in  the  sun- 
Bhiue,  was  now  about  to  take  place  one  of  the  bloodiest 
combats  of  all  history.  On  one  side  —  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  —  was  courage,  discipline,  complete  equip 
ment,  excellent  soldiership  in  men  and  officers,  and 
the  couaciousjiofed  that  they  were  fight1' 'ig  on  their  own 


soil,  pressed  by  the  foot  of  the  stranger.  On  Jhe  _>ther 
--the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  —  was  a  courage 
certainly  as  reckless,  a  materiel  certainly  as  excellent , 
bat  b?  addition,  a  wild  elevation  and  self-confidence, 
unparalleled  since  the  days  of  Napoleon.  Fredericks- 
burg  and  Chancellorsville  had  made  every  private  rate 
himself  as  worth  three  of  the  enemy  ;  no  heart  in  all 
that  host  doubted  the  result  for  an  instant ;  an  inde 
scribable  afflatus,  like  the  breath  of  victory,  buoyed  up 
the  army  ;  they  went  to  battle  dancing  and  singing,  ae 
though  excited  by  champagne. 

"  I  never  even  imagined  such  courage,"  said  a  Fed- 
oral  surgeon  to  Gen.  Kemper ;  "  your  men  seemed  to 
be  drunk  with  victory,  as  they  charged ! " 

The  two  armies  were  nearly  equal  in  numbers. 

"  Including  all  the  arms  of  the  service,"  says  General 
Meade,  "  my  strength  was  a  little  under  one  hundred 
thousand  men." 

Gen.  Lee's  was  sixty-seven  thousand  bayonets  — 
about  seventy  thousand  of  all  arms,  in  the  absence  of 
Stuart's  cavalry.  So  the  morning  report  declared,  on 
Gen.  Longstreet's  authority. 

"  The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,"  said  Longstreet, 
"  was  at  this  time  in  a  condition  to  undertake  any 
thing." 

You  were  right,  General  1  It  was  only  the  impossi 
ble  that  was  beyond  their  strength. 

Such  were  the  relative  numbers  of  the  two  great 
armies,  drawn  up  and  facing  each  other,  on  the  Get 
tysburg  Heights,  July  2,  1863.  Each  commander  was 
waiting  for  the  other  to  attack,  and  wisely.  To  be 
tgeailed  —  that  was  to  enjoy  an  enormous  advantage 
If 


0XTTYSBT7SQ. 


To  assail  —  that  was  to  ran  a  terrible  hazard.  The 
lines  advancing  over  those  waving  wheat-fields  were 
doomed  to  destruction  from  the  fire  on  the  neighbor 
ing  heights.  Which  side  would  first  try  that  bloody 
advance  ? 

It  speedily  became  obvious  that  Gen.  Meade  had  no 
such  intention.  He  was  plainly  going  to  await  his  ad 
versary's  attack.  Would  Lee  make  that  attack,  how 
ever?  —  would  he  not  rather  execute  a  great  flank 
movement  by  the  Einmetsburg  Road?*  At  four  in 
the  afternoon  that  question  was  answered. 

All  the  forenoon,  Gen.  Lee  had  remained  silent. 
Seated  on  the  stump  of  a  tree,  near  the  centre  of  his 
line,  he  reconnoitered  his  great  adversary  —  seeking, 
apparently,  for  some  opening  in  his  armor.  There 
seemed  absolutely  none.  Right  and  left,  as  far  as  the 
eye  could  reach,  stretched  the  glittering  blue  lines, 
defended  everywhere  by  cannon,  and  to  charge  those 
heights,  thus  crowned  with  bayonets  and  artillery, 
seemed  a  hopeless  undertaking.  An  assault  aiming  to 
turn  the  Federal  left,  in  front  of  Round-Top,  seemed 
to  promise  good  results,  however,  and  this  assault  was 
determined  on  by  Lee. 

At  four  in  the  afternoon  all  is  read}  .the  attack 
ing  column  will  be  that  of  Longstreet  holding  thf 
right  —  Lee's  "  Old  War  Horse,"  who  had  breasted  s<. 
many  shocks  of  battle,  and  never  failed  him  yet.  You 
have  only  to  look  at  the  calm  face,  half  enveloped  in 
the  fuli  beard,  to  understand  that  this  is  an  obstinate 
fighter.  On  that  face  is  written  the  stubborn  tenacity 

*  Expected  by  Gen.  Meade  —  Me  hi*  testimony. 


QSTTYBBURG.  219 

of  the  bull-dog,  who,  once  closing  his  teeth  in  the  body 
of  an  enemy,  will  permit  himself  to  be  hewn  in  pieces 
without  relaxing  his  hold. 

Longstreet  opens,  first  a  heavy  fire  of  artillery 
With  that  great  hammer  he  strives  to  loosen  the  iror. 
joints  of  the  Federal  coat  of  mail  in  his  front.  Gen 
Sickles  receives  this  fire ;  he  has  thrown  his  lines  for 
ward  considerably  in  front  of  the  rest,  and  it  will  be 
necessary  for  Longstreet  to  overpower  and  drive  him 
back  before  scaling  the  heights  of  Round-Top. 

The  hammer  continues  to  bang;  Longstreet  forma 
his  column  of  assault,  consisting  of  Hood  and  Me- 
Laws ;  at  four  in  the  evening  he  moves.  Then  the 
thunder  of  the  cannon  drops  to  silence,  and  the  vet 
erans  of  the  First  Corps  are  hurled  against  the  blue 
lines  in  their  front. 

From  this  moment  until  night  descends  —  and  the 
eyes  of  the  dying  see  the  "  moon  rise  o'er  the  battle- 
plain  "  —  one  continuous  crash  of  musketry  and  thun 
der  of  artillery  rolls  through  the  valley,  and  leaps  back 
from  the  hills,  deafening  all  ears.  McLaws,  holding 
Longstreet's  left,  and  supported  by  Hill's  right  divi 
sion,  attacks  the  Federal  salient,  pushes  forward  into  a 
peach-orchard  in  his  front,  and  here,  hour  after  hour, 
the  battle  continues  to  roar.  In  spite  of  Federal  re 
inforcements,  constantly  arriving,  the  Confederates, 
slowly  but  surely,  push  back  the  opposing  lines. 
Brigade  after  brigade  of  the  Northern  troops  is  swept 
away ;  the  Confederates  continue  to  advance ;  the 
great  canuval  of  death  is  in  full  blast,  and  it  is  the 
gray  soldiers  who  ride  upon  tha  wave  of  battle,  bear 


220  GETTYSBURG. 

ing  them  ever   nearer  to  the  heights,  whiJi,  ono« 
attained,  will  give  them  victory. 

Meanwhile,  the  assault  of  Longstreet's  right  division 
lias  been  splendid.  It  is  led  by  Hood,  the  great 
Texan,  unsurpassed  for  dash  and  courage  by  any  sol 
dier  in  the  army.  Hood  never  pauses  in  his  charge, 
for  he  is  a  man  "to  count  on."  He  pushes  straight 
across  the  Federal  flank,  sweeping  back  from  Peach 
Orchard  toward  Round-Top,  and  penetrates  the  space 
between  their  left  and  the  peak.  At  one  blow  Hood 
seems  to  have  decided  the  great  struggle.  His  Tex- 
ans  are  rushing  up  the  slope.  Once  rooted  on  this 
rugged  peak,  they  will  have  Gen.  Meade's  army  in 
reverse.  Their  cannon  will  enfilade  his  lines;  the 
Cemetery  height  will  be  untenable ;  the  Federal  army 
will  be  dislodged  from  its  grand  position,  and  be 
forced  to  retreat  upon  Washington,  pursued  by  Lee. 

All  this  Hood  sees  at  a  glance;  his  Texans  rush 
upon  the  hill,  without  skirmishers,  in  solid  mass,  every 
man  running  and  yelling.  The  rocky  slope  is  reached ; 
the  Texans  dash  toward  the  summit  without  pause; 
when  suddenly  on  the  crest  they  are  met,  bayonet  to 
bayonet ;  beyond  are  confused  groups  of  shouting  and 
struggling  men,  dragging  up  cannon. 

A  single  officer  has  saved  the  Army  of  the  Potomac1. 
Gen.  Warren,  riding  by,  as  Hood  charges,  has  seen 
the  imminent  peril  —  has  imperiously  ordered  the  sig 
nal-officers,  about  to  retreat  from  Round-Top,  to  con 
tiiine  waving  their  flags  —  has  seized  a  brigade,  the 
first  he  can  find  —  has  rushed  up  the  slope,  directing 
DULC^r  to  be  hauled  up  by  the  hands  of  the  men ;  and 
when  Hood'?  troops  reach  the  Greet,  it  is  to  find  there 


GETTYSBURG.  SU 

aelves  met,  breast  to  breast,  by  a  brigade  of  infantry 
who  attack  them,  bayonet  to  bayonet,  with  clubbed 
muskets,  with  rocks,  howling,  yelling,  dying,  but  drag 
ging  with  them  as  they  fall  the  foes  with  whom  they 
have  grappled. 

In  half  an  hour  this  bloody  combat  has  ended.  The 
head  of  Hood's  column  is  hurled  from  the  peak  into 
the  ravice —  the  enemy  are  massed  upon  the  summit — 
over  the  dead  bodies,  thick  strewn  on  the  rocky  crest, 
and  the  wounded,  weltering  in  blood,  rolls  the  hoarse 
and  menacing  thunder  of  the  artillery,  dragged  thither 
at  last,  and  now  firing  upon  the  gray  soldiers  beneath. 

It  was  Vincent's  brigade  which  did  this  work.  The 
names  of  his  men  should  be  preserved.  They  saved 
the  day  at  Gettysburg.  Hear  Gen.  Meade : 

'  At  the  same  time  that  they  threw  these  immense 
masses  against  Gen.  Sickles,  a  heavy  column  was 
thrown  upon  the  Bound-Top  Mountain,  which  was  the 
key  point  of  my  whole  position.  If  they  had  succeeded 
m  occupying  that,  it  would  have  prevented  me  from 
holding  any  of  the  ground  which  I  subsequently  held 
to  the  last" 

That  is  to  say,  that  the  question  whether  Gen. 
Meade  was  to  retreat  or  not,  was  decided  in  the 
thirty  minutes'  fight  on  the  crest  of  Round-Top  Ilill. 

Strange  battle !  The  Federal  forces  driven  on  the 
first  day's  fight;  but  Cemetery  Hill  not  occupied. 
Driven  again  in  the  second  day's  fight;  but  Round- 
Top  Hill  not  secured.  Fate  seemed  to  fight  against 
the  South.  There  is  one  title  for  the  battle  of  Get 
tysburg  which  should  live  in  hia* >ry  —  "The  Greal 
Grose!" 

!§• 


GETTYSBURG. 


At  nightfall  Longstreet  was  retreating  sullei  <y.  H« 
had  fought  with  his  well-known  obstinacy;  had 
clutched  victory,  it  seemed,  twice  or  thrice;  but, 
promptly  and  rapidly  reinforced  at  every  point  by 
brigades,  divisions,  corps,  the  Federal  lines  had  stub 
bornly  returned  to  the  contest,  worn  out  their  oppo 
nents  by  sheer  hard  fighting:  then  they  had  advanced 
in  turn,  and  forced  the  Confederates  back  beyond  the 
peach  orchard  and  wheat  field.  When  night  des 
cended,  the  lines  faced  each  other  there  —  nothing  had 
been  gained.  The  moon  rising  slowly  over  the  battle 
field,  looked  down  upon  a  thousand  corpses  —  that  was 
all. 

Lee's  first  assault  upon  the  enemy's  position  has  thus 
failed ;  but  he  does  not  despair.  He  will  try  another. 
While  Longstreet  has  attacked  the  enemy's  left,  Ewell 
has  assailed  their  extreme  right ;  has  penetrated  their 
line,  occupied  their  breastworks,  and  at  nightfall 
seems  rooted  firmly  there ;  but  at  dawn  he  has  been 
attacked  in  turn,  driven  from  his  position,  and  now,  or 
this  morning  of  the  3rd,  is  again  in  the  plain,  with  aL 
the  labor  to  go  over  again. 

General  Lee,  from  his  position  on  Seminary  Ridge 
at  liis  centre,  reconnoitres  the  Federal  position  through 
his  field  glass.  There  is  no  change  in  it,  except  that 
Gen.  Meade  has  straightened  his  line,  has  his  flanks 
thoroughly  protected,  and  is  not  to  be  surprised  on  his 
right  or  his  left. 

One  of  two  things  must  be  done  by  Lee.  He  must 
retire,  or  attack  the  Federal  centre.  Which  course 
will  he  pursue  ?  He  looks  ai  his  old  army,  cool,  reso 
lute,  gay,  believing  in  itself  and  in  him.  He  resolve* 


to  put  all  upon  the  die,  and  orders  preparations  to  be 
mnde  for  a  final  assault. 

We  approach  now  one  of  those  grand  dramatic  spec 
tacles  which  stand  out,  bold,  prominent,  and  bloody,  01 
the  great  canvas  of  the  world's  wars.  Gettysburg  it 
fo  see  a  last  charge  —  the  glare  is  to  deepen,  tht 
tragedy  attain  its  utmost  intensity  in  the  rush  of  the 
Virginians  upon  Cemetery  Hill. 

For  this  hard  work,  Pickett's  division  of  Virginia 
troops,  which  has  just  arrived,  fresh  from  the  rear,  has 
been  selected  by  Lee.  lie  knows  of  what  metal  they 
are,  and  that  he  can  depend  upon  them. 

The  great  attack  once  determined  upon,  the  arrange 
ment  of  the  troops  is  rapidly  made.  Pickett,  with  hia 
Virginians,  will  make  the  assault,  his  flanks  covered 
and  supported  by  "Wilcox  and  Pettigrew  —  Longstreet 
will  guard  their  right  against  an  attack  from  the  force 
in  front  of  him.  If  the  Virginians  burst  through  anc 
seize  the  Cemetery  heights,  the  whole  centre  of  the 
army  will  rush  into  that  gap  ;  Heade's  wings  will  be 
torn  asunder ;  then  his  fate  will  be  decided. 

At  one  o'clock,  Lee  commences  the  execution  of  his 
plan.  He  has  crowned  Seminary  Ridge,  along  the 
whole  front  of  Longstreet  and  Hill,  with  artillery,  and 
at  one  in  the  day,  one  hundred  and  forty-five  pieces  of 
cannon  open  their  grim  mouths,  sending  their  hoarse 
roar  across  the  valley.  Eighty  pieces  reply  to  them, 
and  for  two  hours  these  two  hundred  and  twenty-five 
cannon  tear  the  air  with  their  harsh  thunder,  reverber 
ating  ominously  in  the  gorges  of  the  lulls,  and  hurled 
back  in  crash  after  eras!  from  the  rocky  slopes  of  the 
two  ridges.  Searching  for  a  word  to  iescribe  this 


8*4 


artillery  fire,  that  cool  and  unexcitable  loldier,  Gen. 
Hancock,  could  lind  nothing  but  "  terrific." 

"Their  artillery  fire,"  he  says,  "was  most  terrific. 
.  .  .  .  It  was  the  most  terrific  cannonade  I  ever 
\  ftnessed,  and  the  most  prolonged  .....  It  was 
^  most  terrific  and  appalling  cannonade  —  one,  possibly, 
hardly  ever  paralleled." 

For  nearly,  or  quite  two  hours,  Lee  continues  this 
"terrific"  fire.  With  fchis  hammer  of  the  Titans  he 
aims  to  so  batter  the  Federal  centre,  breaking  down  its 
strength,  that  when  his  sword's  point  is  thrust  forward, 
it  will  pierce  overy  obstacle  and  drink  blood.  So  the 
gigantic  sledge  hammers  bang  away  without  ceasing, 
until  nearly  three  o'clock.  Then  the  Federal  fire  slack 
ens,  appears  to  be  silenced,  and  Lee  in  turn  ceases  hia 
own.  The  moment  has  come. 

The  Virginians  of  Pickett  form  in  double  line,  just 
in  the  edge  of  the  wood  on  Seminary  Ridge  —  then 
they  are  seen  to  move.  They  advance  into  the  valley, 
supported  by  Pct^igrew  <  i  the  left,  and  Wilcox  ready 
to  follow  or.  the  right.  So  the  division  goes  into  that 
Valley  of  Death,  advancing  in  face  of  the  enemy's 
gun's  at  "  common  time,"  as  the  troops  of  Nej  moved 
under  the  Russian  artillery,  on  the  banks  of  the  Dnie 
per. 

The  two  armies  look  on,  holding  their  breath.  It  is 
a  magnificent  spectacle.  Old  soldiers,  hardened  in  the 
fire  of  battle,  flush,  and  lean  forward  with  fiery  eyes. 
Suddenly  the  Federal  artillery  opens  all  its  thunders, 
and  the  ranks  are  swept  from  end  to  end  by  round  shot, 
shell,  and  canister.  Bloody  gaps  are  seen,  but  the  men 
close  up  ;  the  line  advances  slowly,  as  before.  The  fire 


GETTYSBURG. 


redoubles  ;  ali  the  demons  of  hell  seem  howling,  roar 
ing,  yelling,  screaming,  gibbering  in  one  great  witch'i 
aabbat.  Through  the  attacking  column  tears  a  storm 
of  iron,  before  which  men  fall  in  heaps,  mangled, 
bleeding,  their  bodies  torn  to  pieces,  their  dying  hands 
elutching  the  grass.  The  survivors  close  up  the  ranks 
and  go  on  steadily. 

Virginia  is  not  poor  and  bare,  ao  some  suppose  her. 
She  is  rich  beyond  royal  or  imperial  dreams  —  for  she 
has  that  charge. 

At  three  hundred  yards  from  the  slope,  the  real  con 
flict  bursts  forth.  There  the  thunder  of  the  artillery 
is  succeeded  by  the  crash  of  musketry.  From  behind 
their  stone  breastwork  the  Federal  infantry  rise  and 
pour  a  sudden  and  staggering  fire  into  the  assailants. 
Before  that  fire  the  troops  of  Pettigrew  melt  away.  It 
sweeps  them  as  dry  leaves  are  swept  by  the  wind. 
Where  a  moment  before  was  a  line  of  infantry,  is  now 
a  mass  of  fugitives,  flying  wildly  before  the  hurricane 
—  the  brave  Pettigrew  falling  as  he  waves  his  sword 
and  attempts  to  rally  them. 

The  Virginians  have  lost  the  flower  of  their  forces, 
but  the  survivors  continue  to  advance.  In  face  of  the 
concentrated  fire  of  the  infantry  forming  the  Federa' 
centre,  they  ascend  the  slope,  rush  headlong  at  the 
breastworks  ;  storm  them  ;  strike  their  bayonets  into 
the  flying  Federals  ;  and  a  wild  cheer  rises,  making  the 
blood  leao  in  the  veins  of  a  hundred  thousand  men. 

They  are  torn  to  pieces,  but  they  have  carried  the 
*  ork*  Alas  1  it  is  only  the  first  line.  Beyond,  othei 
eartlrw  >rks  frown  ;  in  their  faces  are  thrust  the  muzzJei 


t26  GETTYSBURG. 

of  muskets  whicli   spout   flame  —  the  near  2Lne,  Sou 
must  be  carried,  and  they  dash  at  it. 

Then  is  seen  a  spectacle  which  will  long  te  remcin 
bered  —  Pickett's  little  remnant  charging  the  whoU 
Federal  army.  They  charge,  and  are  nearly  annihi 
lated.  Every  step  death  meets  them.  Then  the  eneinv 
close  in  on  the  flanks  of  the  little  band  —  no  supporters 
are  near  —  they  fight  bayonet  to  bayonet,  and  die. 

When  the  torn  and  bleeding  remnant  fall  back  from 
thtj  fatal  hill,  pursued  by  yells,  shouts,  musket  balls, 
cannon  shot,  they  present  a  spectacle  which  would  be 
piteous  if  it  were  not  sublime.  Of  the  three  brigades, 
a  few  scattered  battalions  only  return.  Where  are  the 
commanders  ?  The  brave  Garnett  killed ;  the  gallant 
Annistead  mortally  wounded  as  he  leaped  his  horse 
over  the  breastworks ;  the  fiery  Kemper  lying  maimed 
for  life,  under  the  canister  whirling  over  him.  Four 
teen  field  officers  out  of  fifteen  are  stretched  dead  and 
dying  on  the  field.  Of  the  men,  three-fourths  are  dead 
or  prisoners. 

The  battle  of  Gettysburg  is  decided. 

All  the  following  day,  Gen.  Lee  remained  in  poei 
tion,  awaiting  an  assault. 

"I  should  have  liked  nothing  better  than  to  hav* 
been  attacked,"  said  Longstreet. 

"  My  opinion  is  now,"  said  Gen.  Meade,  "  that  Gen. 
Lee  evacuated  that  position  not  from  the  fear  that  he 
would  be  dislodged  from  it  by  any  active  operation* 
&n  my  part,  but  that  he  was  fearful  that  a  force  would 
be  sent  to  Harper's  Ferry  to  cut  off  his  (jomniunicationfi 
That  was  what  caused  him  to  retire.^ 


&MTTTBBUSG. 


Wlien  asked  the  question,  "Did  you  discover,  after 
the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  any  symDtoms  of  demoraliza 
tion  in  Lee's  army?'1  Gen.  Meade  replied,  "  No,  sir. 
I  saw  nothing  of  that  kind."  * 

There  was  none  ;  and  Gen.  Meade  knew  it.  Hi* 
great  adversary  was  at  bay,  and  care  was  taken  not  to 
press  him  too  closely  as  he  retired.  On  the  14th,  Lee 
had  recrossed  the  Potomac  into  Virginia,  and  the  cam 
paign  was  ended. 

Gettysburg  was  the  "Waterloo  —  Cemetery  Hill  the 
Mont  St.  Jean  —  of  the  war. 

The  Virginians  who  charged  there  had  the  right  to 
say,— 

"  The  Old  Guard  dies  —  it  does  not  surrender  I  " 

Not  without  good  reason  is  the  anniversary  of  thig 
^reat  battle  celebrated  at  the  North  with  addresses  and 
rejoicings  —  with  crowds,  and  music,  and  congratula 
tions.  The  American  Waterloo  is  worth  making  that 
noise  over  ;  and  the  monument  proposed  there,  is  a 
natural  conception. 

What  will  that  monument  be  ?    A  lion,  aa  at 
lerloo? 

Take  care,  Messieurs  !  The  world  will  say  it  '§ 

Good,  of  War,  L,  887. 


DC. 

WILDERNESS MAT,  1864. 

FROM  1861  to  1864,  the  war  was  war.  Thenasforth 
it  was  slaughter. 

The  Federal  Captains,  McDowell,  McClellan,  Pope, 
Burnside,  Hooker  and  Meade  had  fought  pitched  bat 
tles —  sword's  point  against  sword's  point.  Gen.  Grant 
was  now  going  to  bind  his  left  arm  to  his  adversary's 
and  stab  with  the  bowie-knife  until  one  or  the  other 
was  dead. 

His  theory  of  war  had  in  it  a  grand  simplicity.  Lee 
could  only  he  crushed  by  hard  blows.  To  attain  that 
end  he  had  only  to  "hammer  continuously."  When 
Gen.  Meade  spoke  of  manoeuvring  for  position,  Gen. 
Grant  replied : 

"  Oh !  I  never  manoeuvre  I  " 

There  was  the  whole  coming  campaign  in  a  nut 
shell. 

The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  was,  thus,  in  Gen. 
Grant's  estimation,  a  body  of  men  whom  he  could  not 
intimidate — Gen.  Lee  a  commander  whom  he  could 
not  out-general.  "Well,  he  would  shatter  that  army  by 
simple  brute  force — by  the  sheer  weight  of  his  gigan 
tic  sledge-hammer,  "hammering  continuously.'1  lie 


THE   WILDERNESS.  999 

would  overcome  Lee,  not  by  "  manoeuvring,"  but  by 
simple,  plain,  hard  lighting. 

In  the  first  week  of  May,  1864,  the  Titan,  vath  hip 
hammer,  crossed  the  Rapidan  at  the  fords  in  Spottsyl 
vania,  and  began  to  batter  at  his  great  opponent. 

It  remained  to  be  seen  which  would  first  be  shal 
tered — the  sledge-hammer  or  the  anvil.  That  was  01 
tempered  steel,  and  would  endure  much.  Would  it 
endure  this  ? 

Such  was  the  problem,  which,  from  the  5th  of  May, 
1864,  to  the  9th  of  April,  1865,  the  world  had  presented 
for  its  solution.  As  the  days  wore  on,  the  radical 
change  in  the  whole  theory  of  the  war  became  more 
and  more  apparent.  There  were  to  be  no  more  battles 
of  Manassas,  Sharpsburg,  Fredericksburg,  Chancellors- 
ville,  Gettysburg — combats  wherein  one  side  or  the 
other  had  the  advantage,  and  the  straggle  ended  fpr 
the  time.  One  great  wrestle  was  no  longer  to  sum  up 
a  campaign,  and  give  the  soldiers  rest  until  the  next. 
Gen.  Grant  had  adopted  a  new  plan — to  hammer  and 
hammer —  to  "  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  took  all  the 
summer"  —  to  grapple  and  drag  his  great  pdversary, 
and  hurl  him  into  the  "  last  ditch,"  or  be  hurled  into  it 
himself. 

When  war  is  thus  conducted,  it  has,  as  we  have  said, 
a  grand  simplicity.  It  is  true,  it  is  not  instructive  to 
the  military  student,  but  it  possesses  the  interest  at 
tached  to  bloody  fighting.  You  can't  help  being  viv 
idly  impressed  by  the  spectacle  of  two  bull-dogs  cling 
ing  to  each  other  with  teeth  and  nails — two  game 
cocks  cutting  each  other's  eyes  out  with  their  gaffs  — 
a  hundred  thousand  men,  who,  breast  tc  breast,  tear 


886  THE  #ILDERinS8& 

each  other  to  pieces.  That  terrible  and  ghastly  cam 
paign,  dragging  its  bloody  steps  from  the  Wilderness 
to  Appomattox,  may  not  have  been  war  exactly,  as  the 
world  understands  war,  but  it  had  a  frightful  attraction 
ii  it — its  glare  was  baleful,  but  brilliant. 

And  Gen.  Grant  was  not  wrong.  It  is  the  fashion 
to  deny  him  military  genius.  He  had,  at  least,  a  just 
conception  of  the  work  before  him.  The  rapier  had 
been  tried  for  three  long  years,  and  Lee,  that  great 
swordsman,  had  parried  every  lunge.  What  was  hie 
Federal  adversary  of  the  huge  bulk  and  muscle  to  do 
now,  in  these  last  days?  One  course  alone  was  left 
him — to  take  the  sledge-hammer  in  both  hands,  and 
leaving  tricks  of  fence  aside,  advance  straightforward, 
and  smash  the  rapier  in  pieces,  blow  by  blow,  shatter 
ing  the  arm  that  wielded  it,  to  the  shoulder  blade. 

The  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  could  not  be  out 
generaled  and  out-fought ;  Grant  determined  that  it 
should  be  worn  out  and  destroyed,  man  by  man.  Ha 
could  not  at  one  great  blow  stab  it  to  death ;  he  re 
solved  to  drain  its  heart's  blood,  drop  by  drop.  All  his 
predecessors  had  failed.  On  the  9th  of  April,  1865, 
he  had  succeeded; — and  was  it  not  that  good  soldier, 
Albert  Sydney  Johnston,  who  said,  "'  Success  is  the  test 
of  merit?" 

Let  us  now  follow  Gen.  Grant.  At  every  step  which 
he  took  a  roar  shook  the  ground. 

In  tracing  the  battles  which  sprung  up  wherever  his 
Ueel  was  placed,  we  shall  have  few  manoeuvres  to  de 
scribe.  This  or  that  brigade  or  division  rarely  accom 
plished  this  or  that  heroic  feat.  Brigades,  divisirns, 
even  corps,  are  lost  in  the  smoke.  Through  the 


TEE  WILDERNESS. 


cloud  you  saw  only  huge  masses  hurled  against  each 
other  —  a  storm  thundered  —  when  night  eama,  fi  re  or 
ten  thousand  men  were  dead,  that  was  all. 

The  question  was  not  whether  this  or  that  brigade 
had  fought  well.  What  is  the  result  ?  was  asked.  Men 
had  ceased  to  be  human  beings  ;  they  were  units  ;  tho 
representatives  of  force,  merely.  For  your  death  to 
be  spoken  of  you  must  be  at  least  the  commander  of  a 
corps. 

Half  a  mile  gained,  and  a  portion  of  the  breastworks 
carried  —  ten  thousand  "casualties."  There  wus  tho 
whole. 

But,  in  these  observations  upon  Gen.  Grant's  war- 
theory,  as  applied  to  Lee,  we  have  somewhat  antici 
pated  the  order  of  things.  That  programme  was  thrust 
on  him.  His  plan,  lie  says  in  his  report,  was  "  to  ham 
mer  continuously  against  the  armed  force  of  the 
enemy  and  his  resources,  until,  by  mere  attrition,  if 
by  nothing  else,  there  should  be  nothing  left  of  him, 
but  an  equal  submission  with  the  loyal  section  of  our 
common  country  to  the  Constitution  and  laws."  ("  An 
equal  submission."  Ah  !  General,  that  phrase  seems  a 
mockery  to-day  —  October,  1867  —  does  it  not?)  But 
that  was  after  his  first  encounters  with  Lee.  It  was 
then  that  the  "  attrition  "  programme  wan  found  neces 
sary.  When  Gen.  Grant  advanced  to  the  Wilderness, 
his  object  was  undoubtedly,  and  properly,  to  make  aa 
much  of  the  road  to  Hanover  Junction  and  Richmond 
as  he  possibly  could,  without  a  fight.  This  is  scarcely 
to  be  questioned;  at  least,  it  was  the  belief  of  the 
highest  officers  of  the  Confederate  army,  and  the  at 
tacks  which  he  delivered  in  the  jungle  did  not  prov« 


THE  WILDERNESS. 


the  contrary.  As  the  reader  will  soon  see,  Gen.  Grant 
thought  the  force  there  was  only  Lee's  rear  guard  as  ha 
retreated. 

Before  following  the  movements  of  the  combatai  ts. 
let  us  look  for  a  moment  at  their  relative  numbers. 
Therein  is  the  true  glory  of  the  South  —  a  heritage  of 
honour,  of  which  nothing  can  deprive  her. 

Grant's  "  available  force  present  for  duty,  May  1, 
1864,"  was,  by  the  official  statement  of  the  Fedeial 
War  Secretary,  one  hundred  and  forty-one  thousand 
one  hundred  and  sixty-six  men.  Throughout  the 
month  of  May  reinforcements,  "  to  repair  the  losses  of 
the  Army  of  the  Potomac,"  constantly  arrived,  making 
the  number  of  his  troops  operating  "  on  this  line " 
nearly,  or  quite,  two  hundred  thousand  men. 

Lee  had  "  present  for  duty  "  at  the  same  time,  as  the 
rolls  of  his  army  will  show,  fifty-two  thousand  six 
hundred  and  twenty-six.*  Pickett  and  Breckenridge 
brought  him  afterwards  ten  thousand  men  at  most. 
With  about  sixty-two  thousand  troops  of  all  arms,  Lee 
fought  from  the  Rapidan  to  Petersburg,  repulsing  the 
assaults  of  nearly,  or  quite,  two  hundred  thousand. 

What  was    the  explanation    of    Lee's    paucity  of 

*  CoL  Walter  H.  Taylor,  A.  A.  O.  of  the  army,  puts  the  tffeetht 
fct  somewhat  less,  viz. : 

Ewell 18,000 

Hffl 17,000 

Longstreet 10,000 

Infavtry , 40,000 

Cavalry  and  artillery 10,000 

Total  of  all  arms 60,000 

-M&ttfOoL  Taylor. 


TRS  WILLEKXS8B. 


troope!  Why  did  that  army,  whi<jh  had  numbered 
sixty-seven  thousand  bayonets  at  Gettysburg,  now 
number  only  about  forty  thousand  ?  To  answer  these 
questions  a  volume  would  be  necessary  —  wounds 
closing  now  would  bleed  afresh.  Let  it  pass.  The 
fact  alone  need  be  stated — that  the  force  defending 
Virginia  was  reduced  to  that.  But  they  were  the  "  Old 
Guard"  of  the  army — men  who  had  made  up  their 
minds  to  fight  to  the  end — whose  courage  and  con 
stancy,  not  hunger,  hardships,  nakedness,  wounds  nor 
death  could  affect — who  had  resolved  to  live  or  die 
with  Lee. 

And  they  adhered  to  that  resolve  with  unshaken 
constancy,  to  the  end.  They  fought  over  every  step  of 
ground  from  the  Rapidan  to  Appomattox  with  a  nerve 
and  dash  so  stubborn  that  their  very  enemies  won 
dered  ;  and  when,  cut  down  to  less  than  eight  thou 
sand  bayonets,  they  were  driven  to  surrender,  there 
;rere  tears  on  the  gaunt  faces,  black  with  powder, 
which  had  never  been  thus  melted  before. 

Ten  words  from  Lee  had  brought  those  tears.  The 
roar  of  Grant's  cannon  had  only  made  them  laugh  and 
cheer. 

Let  us  follow  now  the  Federal  Thor  as  he  advanced 
to  the  arduous  work  before  him. 

On  the  morning  of  May  5th,  Gen.  Grant  was  across 
Rapidan  with  one  hundred  thousand  men — the  rest 
were  hastening  up. 

When  his  adversary  began  thus  his  great  advance, 
Lee  had  held  the  line  of  the  Rapidan  above  as  far  ai 
Liberty  Mills,  llill  was  on  his  left,  which  was  thrown 
80* 


18*  THX 


back  toward  Orange  Court  House  —  EwcF  on  hif  right 

—  Longstreet  was  in  reserve,  near  Gordons  ville. 

No  sooner,  however,  had  Grant  begun  tc  move  thau 
Lee  broke  up  his  camps,  put  his  army  in  motion,  and 

—  evidently  without  any  design  of  retreating  upoi) 
Richmond  —  went  down  to  the  Wilderness  to  fight 

Some  critics  called  Lee  cautious  ;  there  was  a  terri 
ble  audacity  in  his  caution.  With  his  fifty  thousand, 
he  was  going  to  attack  Grant's  one  hundred  and  forty 
thousand  —  to  order  "Halt!"  to  that  commander  in 
full  career. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th,  he  was  in  the  Wilder 
ness,  had  thrown  down  the  gauntlet,  and  the  great 
struggle  began. 

We  have  already  described  that  singular  and  sombre 
country  —  a  land  of  thicket,  undergrowth,  jungle,  ooze, 
where  men  could  not  see  each  other  twenty  yards  off, 
and  assaults  had  to  be  made  by  the  compass.  The  fights 
there  were  not  as  easy  even  as  night  attacks  in  open 
country,  for  at  night  you  can  travel  by  the  stars.  Death 
came  unseen  ;  regiments  stumbled  on  each  other,  and 
sent  swift  destruction  into  each  other's  ranks,  guided  b/ 
the  crackling  of  the  bushes.  It  was  not  war  —  military 
manoauvring;  science  had  as  little  to  do  with  it  as 
sight.  Two  wild  animals  were  hunting  each  otb^r. 
When  they  heard  each  other's  steps,  they  sprung  and 
grappled.  The  conquercr  advanced,  or  wert  else 
where.  The  dead  was  lost  from  all  eyes  in  the 
shadowy  depths. 

This  iiiay  seem  a  fancy  sketch.  It  is  the  trutL,  and 
that  truth  is  shown  by  the  curious  spectacle  her*  p  * 
routed  of  officers,  advancing  to  the  charge  in  thar  \\  n 


THE  WILDERNESS.  281 

gle,  c&m/pass  in  hand,  attacking  not  b}  eight,  but  by 
the  bearing  of  the  needle. 

Tn  this  mournful  and  desolate  thicket  did  the  great 
crmpaign  of  1864  begin.  Here  in  blind  wrestle,  as  at 
midnight,  did  two  hundred  thousand  men,  in  bl;  e  and 
gray,  clutch  each  other  —  bloodiest  and  weirdest  of 
encounters.  War  had  had  nothing  like  it.  The 
genius  of  destruction,  tired,  apparently,  of  the  old 
commonplace  killing,  had  invented  "The  Unseen 
Death." 

Let  us  now  follow  the  great  drama,  scene  by  scene, 
accompany  its  advance,  step  by  step,  to  the  fall  of  the 
curtain. 

Lee  marching  down  from  Orange,  found  himself,  on 
the  morning  of  the  5th  of  May,  in  face  of  the  enemy. 
He  had  only  two  of  his  corps  with  him  — those  of  Hill 
and  Ewell.  Longstreet  had  not  arrived  from  Gor 
dons  ville. 

Ewell,  on  the  left  and  in  advance,  occupied  the  Old 
Turnpike,  across  which,  as  his  troops  arrived,  he 
formed  line  of  battle.  Hill  came  by  the  Plank  Road, 
on  the  right  of  Ewell,  and  formed  line  there.  These 
two  great  highways,  running  from  the  west  toward 
Chancellorsville,  struck  straight  into  Grant's  flank,  as 
lie  marched  by  way  of  the  Brock  Road  toward  the 
boath. 

The  Federal  Generals  had  not  believed  that  Ijee 
would  have  the  boldness  to  advance  and  attack.  They 
were  sure  that  he  would  fall  back  to  the  line  of  the 
Central  Railroad  to  protect  Richmond.  When  the 
gray-coats  now  appeared  in  their  front,  the  force  was 
supposed  to  be  merely  a  decoy  to  detain  the  Federal 


936  THE  WTLDBKNftSS. 

army  while  Lee  pressed  forwarxi  toward  xlanovei 
Junction. 

Gon.  Meade,  at  least,  thought  so.  On  this  j\ornin£ 
he  was  with  Grant  at  Wilderness  Tavern,  a. id  said : 

"  They  have  left  a  division  to  fool  us  here,  while 
they  concentrate  and  prepare  a  position  towaid  the 
South  Anna,  and  what  I  want  is  to  prevent  those  fel 
lows  from  getting  back  to  Mine  Run." 

Those  fellows  were  Lee,  Hill,  and  Ewell.  They 
were  not  intent  on  getting  back  to  Mine  Run,  or  fool 
ing  anybody.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  oeat  on 
fighting  —  a  fact  which  soon  became  apparent. 

At  noon,  the  combat  —  a  species  of  "feeler"  pre 
ceding  the  bloody  battle  of  the  next  day  —  began. 

The  head  of  Swell's  column  had  just  formed  line  of 
battle,  across  the  Old  Turnpike,  when  it  was  furiously 
assailed  by  Warren's  corps  of  the  Federal  army.  Then 
came  the  tug.  Warren's  assault  was  so  rapid  and  de 
termined  that  Swell's  front  brigades  were  driven  in  on 
his  main  body.  There  the  enemy  found,  however,  the 
real  wall.  Ewell  threw  his  remaining  force  into  line 
of  battle ;  advanced  straight  upon  Warren ;  swept 
him  back ;  seized  two  pieces  of  artillery,  and  about  a 
thousand  prisoners ;  and  the  whole  Federal  force  was 
crushed  back  into  the  thickets  of  the  Wilderness  from 
which  they  had  emerged.  * 

Such  wa&  the  result  of  the  first  assault  —  made,  ap- 

*The  Federal  loss  in  this  fight  was  three  thousand  men,  but 
Ewell  lost  some  of  his  best  officers.  Among  these  it  may  be  per 
mitted  the  present  writer  to  mention  his  dear  friend.  Colonel  Wil- 
ilam  TIT  Randolph  one  of  the  bravast  gentlemen  of  Virginia. 
PMM  to  hi*  aahai  I 


THE  WILDSENEBSL  33 1 

parently,  npon  the  theory  that  the  Confederate  force 
was  small,  and  could  easily  be  destroyed.     It  Tas  no\t 
found  to  be  formidable,  and  to  occupy  both  the  Turn 
pike  and  Plank  Road 

An  attack  followed  upon  the  force  holding  the  lat 
ter.  The  thunder  on  the  left  had  scarcely  died  awaj 
when  a  heavy  assault  was  made  on  A.  P.  Hill,  extend 
ing  across  from  Ewell's  right.  There  an  obstinate 
attempt  was  again  made  by  Gen.  Grant  to  break 
through  and  find  out  what  was  behind. 

The  attack  was  stubborn,  the  lines  closing  in,  in  a 
.-ough  wrestle;  but  no  headway  was  made,  though 
Gen.  Hancock  put  his  best  troops  into  the  fight.  "  The 
assaults,"  says  Gen.  Lee,  "  were  repeated  and  desper 
ate,  but  every  one  was  repulsed."  When  night  fell, 
the  attack  had  completely  failed  in  driving  Hill  from 
his  ground,  and  the  Federal  forces  fell  back  to  their 
original  position  in  the  thickets,  along  the  Brock 
Road,  from  which  they  had  advanced. 

Thus  ended  the  first  round.  Result — nothing. 
Gen.  Grant  had,  however,  discovered  that  nearly  the 
whole  Confederate  army  was  in  front  of  him,  bent  on 
a  fight ;  that  if  he  did  not  attack,  they  would ;  and  he 
resolved  to  bring  on  the  battle  at  once. 

Lee  had  come  to  the  same  resolution.  The  affair 
Deemed  arranged  in  council  of  war  between  the  two 
commanders.  Grant  ordered  an  attack  at  five  in  the 
morning — Lee  ordered  an  attack  at  five  in  the  mom- 
'ng.  And  at  five,  accordingly,  on  the  morning  of  the 
$th  of  May,  the  musketry  began  to  rattle. 

Then  the  opposing  lines  rushed  together ;  the  thick' 


23S  THE  W1LDR31TE8&. 

eis  thundered  with  the  long  crash  of  small  arm§,  foi 
tfiat  was  no  place  for  artillery. 

The  battle  of  the  Wilderness  had  begun  in  earnest, 

It  was  a  furious  grapple  all  along  the  lines  of  the 
t\vo  armies,  rather  than  a  battle  in  the  ordinary  mean 
ing  of  the  term.  There  was  no  room  for  strategy — it 
\rafe  useless  to  manoeuvre  for  position,  when  one  spot 
of  ground  was  as  good  as  another.  Gen.  Grant,  at 
loflst,  seemed  to  have  no  plan  beyond  attacking  his  ad 
versary  in  front,  and  breaking  him  to  pieces. 

It  speedily  became  apparent,  however,  that  Gen.  Lee 
had  a  plan,  and  a  thoroughly  matured  one.  That  plan 
was  to  envelope  the  left  flank  of  the  Federal  army,  as 
it  stretched  out  along  the  Brock  Road  running  south 
ward — attain  the  rear  of  their  left  wing, —  and  drive 
back  the  whole  army  on  the  Rapidan. 

At  five,  as  we  have  said,  the  opponents  closed  in, 
fighting  breast  to  breast  almost,  in  the  thicket.  Each 
had  thrown  up  slight  temporary  breastworks  of  sap 
lings  and  dirt — beyond  this  they  were  unprotected. 
The  question  now  was  which  would  succeed  in  driving 
his  adversary  from  these  defences,  almost  within  a  few 
yard.?  of  each  other,  and  from  behind  which  crackled 
the  musketry. 

Kever  was  sight  more  curious  than  that.  On  the 
1"W  line  of  these  works,  dimly  seen  in  the  thicket, 
rested  the  muzzles,  spouting  flame ;  from  the  depths 
rose  cheers  ;  charges  were  made  and  repulseil,  the  lines 
scarcely  seeing  each  other ;  men  fell,  and  writhed,  and 
died,  unseen; — their  bodies  lost  in  the  thicket,  theii 
death  groans  drowred  in  the  steady,  continuous,  never- 
c  «sing  crash. 


THE  WILDERNESS. 

In  front  of  Hill,  holding  the  Confederate  right, 
Grant  had  massed  his  crack  troops,  deterr^ed,  ap 
parently,  to  break  through,  or  die  trying. 

The  greatest  merit  of  this  office r  was  undoubtedly 
bis  skill  in  massing  for  assault ;  and  Hill  here  felt  hii 
heavy  hand.  He  was  borne  back  by  the  simple  weigh! 
of  the  mass  thrown  against  him,  and  at  seven  o'clock 
had  been  driven  more  than  a  mile  on  the  army  trains, 
in  front  of  which  Stuart's  cavalry  made  an  obstinate 
stand.  Grant  was  pressing  on — Lee's  whole  right 
seemed  carried  away,  his  left,  under  Ewell,  cut  off 
from  succor, —  when  at  this  moment  Gen.  Longstreet 
appeared  upon  the  scene. 

That  officer  had  marched  from  Gordonsville,  fol 
lowed  the  Plank  Road,  pressed  forward  more  rapidly 
at  the  sound  of  the  firing,  and  now,  as  Hill  fell  back, 
fighting  obstinately,  aided  by  Stuart,  Longstreet  came 
to  their  assistance. 

The  Federal  commander  paused  to  reform  his  disor 
dered  line  before  striking  a  decisive  blow.  When, 
about  nine  o'clock,  he  advanced  to  deliver  that  blow, 
he  struck  up  against  Longstreet  and  recoLod. 

Then  Lee  took  the  initiative.  Grasping  the  fresh 
forces  of  Longstreet  —  ten  thousand  veteran  troope, 
upon  whom  long  experience  told  him  he  could  rely — 
he  hurled  them  against  Hancock's  corps  in  his  front; 
swept  away  to\o  divisions  at  the  first  blow;  and  advan 
cing  steadily,  drove  back  the  whole  left  wing  of  the 
Federal  army  in  confusion,  to  the  line  of  Brock  Road. 

Yor  the  moment,  then,  everything  was  carried  away. 
No  exertions  of  the  Federal  officers  could  rally  the 


340  THZ  WILDERNESS. 

men.  The  troops  broke,  and  a  great  victory  »oemed 
about  to  crown  the  day. 

Lee  was  pressing  on ;  his  hard  reached  out  to  clutch 
the  Brock  Koad,  and  by  that  means  turn  the  Federal 
left 

"  I  thought  we  had  another  Bull  Run  on  you,"  said 
Longstreet  to  a  Northern  writer,  long  afterwards,  "  for 
(  had  made  my  dispositions  to  seize  the  Brock  Road." 

To  understand  the  significance  of  that  threat,  look 
at  the  map.  The  Brock  Road  held  by  Lee,  Grant  was 
shut  up  in  the  Wilderness.  There  was  no  more  chance 
for  him  than  there  had  been  for  Hooker.  He  was 
flanked  and  huddled  up  in  the  thicket. 

That  moment  was  undoubtedly  the  turning  point  of 
the  whole  campaign.  But  this  sombre  Wilderness 
was  hostile  to  the  South.  What  shadowy  Fate  was  it 
that  ever  tracked  the  Confederates  there  ?  —  that  struck 
down  Jackson  at  the  instant  when  he  was  about  to  ex 
tend  his  left  at  Chancellorsville,  and  cut  off  Hooker — 
that  now  struck  down  Longstreet  when  his  right 
reached  out  to  cut  off  Grant  ? 

Longstreet  had  formed  liis  column  for  the  great  as 
sault;  the  blow  was  about  to  be  delivered  —  when 
riding  with  his  staff  in  front  of  his  own  lines,  he  was 
mistaken  in  the  thicket  for  a  Federal  officer,  and  fired 
on  at  twenty  paces,  by  his  own  men,  as  Jackson  had 
been. 

That  fatal  fire  arrested  everything  for  the  time. 
Longstreet  was  struck  by  a  bullet  in  the  throat,  which, 
inflicting  a  dangerous  wound  there,  buried  itself  in  his 
right  shoulder,  which  was  paralyzed  for  many  months 
afterwards.  He  was  borne  to  the  rear,  along  the  ad 


THB  WILDERNESS.  Ml 

rancing  lines  of  his  men,  as  Jackson  had  3een  —  re 
turned  their  enthusiastic  salutes,  and  disappeared,  pale 
and  bleeding. 

So  fell  Longstreet  in  his  great  moment,  when  he 
seemed  to  hold  the  victory  in  his  clenched  hand. 

Before  Gen.  Lee  could  arrive,  and  take  the  place 
of  his  Lieutenant,  the  golden  moment  had  passed 
More  than  three  hours  had  been  lost.  Tho  Federal 
left,  seeing  its  danger,  had  called  for  reinforcements ; 
they  had  hurried  to  the  threatened  point ;  when  Lee 
attacked  in  person,  about  four,  p.  M.,  Hancock's  line, 
was  thoroughly  reformed,  strengthened,  and  impregna 
ble. 

It  was  no  longer  an  enemy  fleeing  in  confusion,  but 
a  massive  order  of  battle  behind  works  which  must  be 
carried  by  assault. 

Above  all,  was  the  Broclr  Road  looked  to.  That  vi 
tal  point  was  now  guarded  by  a  force  which  made  the 
hopes  of  carrying  the  position  desperate. 

Lee,  nevertheless,  attacked,  and  then  came  the  veri 
table  struggle,  to  which  all  that  preceded  had  been 
but  the  preface. 

The  spectacle  was  grand  and  terrible.  The  woods 
had  been  set  on  fire ;  flames  crackled,  dense  clouds  of 
smoke  rose ;  from  that  witch's  cauldron  of  lire  and 
suffocating  smoke  rose  cheers,  groans,  shouts,  and  the 
long  crash  of  musketry,  as  the  lines  closed  in.  Where 
the  wounded  were  struck  down  they  fell ;  where  the 
dying  staggered,  they  breathed  flame.  It  was  a  veri 
table  hell  "  in  little." 

Lee  led  the  Texans  of  Gregg  in  person,  into  this 


848  THS   WILDERffSSS. 

par  demoni  am,  and  it  was  hei3  that  the  trooi>s,  seeing 
the  old  cavalier  exposing  himself  recklessly,  shouted  : 

«  To  the  rear !     To  the  rear !  " 

Thaf  shout  brought  back  the  old  days  of  Napoleon 
•  -  the  hour  when  he  promised  his  men  that  if  they 
fougli'  as  he  wished,  he  would  not  lead  them  and  ex 
pose  himself. 

It  was  long  before  that  protest  of  "  Lee  to  the  rear ! '' 
rising  in  a  shout  from  the  men,  moved  its  object.  At 
moments  like  that,  Lee  was  no  longer  the  Commander- 
in-Chief ,  but  the  sabrewr. 

The  battle  was  now  in  full  blast,  and  the  Wilderness 
was  swept  by  a  hurricane.  The  two  armies  were  grap 
pling  in  the  thicket ;  and  the  combined  forces  of  Hill 
and  Longstreet  drove  everything  in  their  front. 

As  the  gray  masses  rushed  through  the  blazing 
thicket,  the  blue  lines  gave  way  —  the  Confederates 
dashed  headlong  to  the  works  —  and,  storming  them  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet,  planted  their  standards  there, 
and  uttered  a  wild  cheer,  which  rose  above  the  din  and 
the  flames. 

The  enemy's  works  were  thus  won,  but  they  were 
worthless.  What  were  they  in  that  crazy  country 
where  there  was  no  "  position,"  and  no  "  advantage  of 
ground" — where  you  could  not  see  ten  yards  in  your 
front  ?  The  enemy,  nevertheless,  made  a  vigorous  ef 
fort  to  re  rover  them,  and  the  fighting  continued  until 
night,  when  it  terminated,  leaving  the  two  armies  still 
locked  in  that  miserable  thicket  —  neither  driven. 

On  Lee's  left,  Ewell  had  had  a  hard  tussle  with  Gen. 
Sexlgwick  ;  and  here  it  was  that  Gordon,  that  brave  oi 
braves,  made  an  attack,  which,  if  made  in  greater 


IBS  WILDERNESS.  243 

force,  would  have  probably  done  fcr  the  right  ei  the 
Federal  army  what  Longstreet  endeavored  to  do 
against  its  left  —  that  is,  ^ve'ope  and  crik-h  in  ite 
whole  right  wing. 

It  is  useless  to  speak  of  Gordon  to  any  old  soldier  ol 
the  army.  They  know  that  brave  soldier  —  that  man 
possessing  the  elan  of  Murat,  with  the  coolness  and  acu 
men  of  the  first  army  leaders  of  history.  He  urged  in 
the  morning  a  turning  movement  against  the  Federa1 
right,  and  it  was  not  made.  In  the  evening  it  was 
seen  to  be  the  thought  of  a  great  soldier,  and  Gordon 
was  ordered  to  make  it,  and  did  make  it.  lie  advanced 
upon  Sedgwick,  turned  his  flank,  struck  him  with  tho 
bayonet,  drove  the  Federal  troops  in  disorder  from 
their  works,  and  was  in  the  rear  of  Grant's  army,  ready 
to  "  turn  and  rend  it,"  when  he  was  ordered  to  return. 

He  had  broken  to  pieces  the  Federal  right ;  cap 
tured  two  of  their  Generals ;  the  ground  was  strewed 
with  muskets,  knapsacks,  and  dead  bodies  —  and  on 
the  next  morning  it  was  found  that  the  enemy  had 
abandoned  the  entire  line  of  works  on  their  right. 

Such  was  Gordon's  great  blow.  He  did  what  he 
could  with  his  force. 

Thus  the  battle  had  ended  on  the  left  as  on  the 
right. 

Neither  side  had  gained  anything. 

But  Gen.  Grant  had  made  up  Ms  mind  to  one 
thing  —  that  he  would  get  out  of  that  wretched 
country  as  soon  as  he  possibly  could. 

He  had  attacked  his  adversary  with  all  the  troops  at 
his  command,  and  instead  of  driving  Lee,  Lee  had 
driven  him.  It  was  therefore  necessary  to  advance 


244  THE   WILDE&NSB& 

or  retire  —  md  Grant  was  not  the  roan  to  ret  ts 
then. 

He  put  his  army  in  motion  ;  hurried  forwaid  by  the 
Brock  road  toward  Spottsylvania  ;  pressed  on  as  rap 
idly  as  Stuart's  cavalry  would  permit,  and  reached 
Spottsylvania  Court  House,  only  to  find  Lee  in  hie 
front  there. 

In  the  gloomy  depths  of  the  Wilderness  thickets  lay 
thousands  of  corpses  in  blue  and  gray  —  that  was  all. 

The  whipoorwill  was  crying  from  the  tangled  un 
derwood. 

The  war-hounds  had  gone  to  tear  each  other  e  JBO 
where. 


tT    TEE   JJE*V  FLA1TK  -  FBOM   THE    (HOB8K-BHO1      TC   T 
CRATER, 


the  flame,  the  smoke,  and  the  uproar  of  the 
Wilderness  thicket,  we  have  seen  the  two  great  antag 
onists,  Lee  and  Grant,  reeling  to  and  fro  in  that  fiero* 
struggle  of  the  6th  of  May. 

It  was  a  veritable  battle  that  was  fought  there  — 
sudden,  unexpected,  desperate  —  and  it  was  the  last 
pitched  battle  of  the  war. 

From  that  moment,  all  things  changed.  The  revolu 
tion  entered  upon  a  new  phase.  Plainly,  Grant  could 
only  wear  his  opponent  out  by  a  policy  of  "  attrition," 
and  Lee  accepted  the  challenge,  and  prepared  for  the 
ordeal. 

To  meet  the  blows  of  mace  or  battle-axe  in  the  daye 
of  chivalry,  men  put  on  armor.  To  sustain  the  impact 
of  Grant's  sledge-hammer,  in  May,  1864,  Lee  cased  his 
lines  in  earthworks.  The  "  attrition  "  of  logs  and  dirt 
was  better  than  the  attrition  of  flesh,  blood,  and  mufr 
cle.  So  after  the  6th  of  May,  Lee  drew  a  line  oi 
bayonets  across  Grant's  path,  and,  in  frc  at  of  this  steel 
hedge,  threw  up  breastworks. 

The  result  vindicated  the  good  judgment  of  the  first 
captain  of  modern  times 

U*  CMS) 


246  BY  THE  LEFT   FLANK. 

Between  the  Eapidan  and  the  Appomattox,  about 
two  hundred  thousand  men  threw  themselves  against 
about  sixty  thousand,  behind  these  works,  and  failed 
utterl  y  in  breaking  through. 

"What  t,his  obstinate  hammering  of  the  Fele/a!  Thor 
cost  him,  the  official  reports  will  show.  The  exhibit  is 
frightful.  The  "  pegging  away  "  programme  had  re 
sulted,  on  the  5th  of  June,  that  is  to  say,  in  one  month 
after  the  crossing  of  the  Rapidan,  in  a  Federal  k«ss  of 
sixty  thousand  men  —  about  the  number  of  Lee's  army. 

To  follow  now  in  outline,  but  ftep  by  step,  the  great 
wave  of  invasion.  Every  day  saw  an  engagement  more 
or  less  bloody.  Two  or  three  times  a  month,  however, 
the  Federal  commander  rushed  madly  against  his  an 
tagonist  behind  these  fatal  works  —  a  tremendous  con 
flict  followed,  —  and  the  blood  and  death  of  these  red 
days  was  frightful  enoug*  to  distinguish  them  from 
the  rest,  projecting  them,  In  bold  relief,  dark,  terrible 
and  tragic,  from  the  rest  of  the  great  war  canvas. 

These  fights  were  called  the  battles  of  the  Horse- 
Shoe,  of  Cold  Harbour^  an-^  the  Crater.  Therein  hor 
ror  culminated ;  blood  did  Jiot  flow,  it  gushed. 

On  the  night  of  the  6th  of  May,  in  the  Wilderness, 
Gen.  Grant  awoke  to  the  consciousness  that  he  could 
make  no  headway  against  Lee  there  ;  and,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  moved  rapidly  by  his  left  flank  toward  Spott- 
sylvania  Court  House  —  that  is  to  sa} ,  on  the  straight 
road  to  Richmond. 

Lee  had  foreseen  this  movement,  and  had  prepared 
for  it.  From  the  MS.  statement  of  a  confidential 
officer  of  his  staff,  we  take  the  following  lines  • 


BY  THE  LEFT  BLANK.  247 

"  Gen.  Lee  here  displayed  that  faculty  he  possessed  of  frvining 
and  anticipating  his  opponent's  intentions.  It  is  believed  by  soma 
that  Gen.  Lee  first  moved,  or  retreatel,  toward  ripofctsylvania 
Court  House,  and  that  Grant  followed.  Not  so.  After  his  success 
ful  attack  on  Grant,  he,  all  a!  once,  seeuicd  to  conceive  the  idea 
that  his  enemy  was  preparing  to  forsake  his  position,  and  move  to 
ward  Hanover  Junction,  via  the  Court  House ;  and,  DeJieving  this, 
he  at  once  detailed  Anderson's  division,  with  orders  to  proceed 
rapidly  toward  the  Court  House.  Gen.  Grant  jirst  commenced  the 
movement  in  that  direction,  and  Gen.  Lee  movtxi  to  '  check '  him." 

The  writer  of  these  lines  attributes  thus  the  move 
ment  of  Lee  to  the  intuition  of  gfiniua.  It  was,  how 
ever,  the  result  of  military  calculation.  Grant  was 
defeated  every  where  in  the  Wilderness ;  thus  he  was 
certain  to  advance  or  retire.  He  was  not  retiring; 
then  he  was  advancing.  The  crack  of  cavalry  carbines, 
on  the  morning  of  the  7th,  from  the  direction  of  Todd'a 
tavern,  showed  the  trj^h  of  this  surmise.  In  fact, 
Grant's  entire  force  v:as  moving;  it  hastened  to  Spott- 
sylvania  Court  Ho'ose  as  rapidly  as  Stuart's  cavalry 
would  permit  it ;  &nd  when  it  reached  that  point,  there 
again  was  the  gray  lion,  Lee,  in  the  path.  Fitz  Lee, 
with  his  horsemen,  had  stubbornly  held  their  ground 
there — the  gray  infantry  had  now  arrived. 

Warren,  hastening  on  to  seize  the  key  position, 
struck  up  against  the  head  of  Longstreet's  column  on 
the  8th,  attacked  with  vigor,  was  repulsed  with  loss, 
could,  therefore  make  no  headway,  and  waited  for  the 
rest.  Oil  the  morning  of  May  9th,  the  two  armies 
found  themselves  in  face  of  each  other — the  Federal 
forces  formed  along  the  north  uank  of  the  Po  river, 
the  Southern  lines  holding  the  south  bank,  and  timi 
barring  the  way  to  Richmond 


248  BY  THB  LttFT  PLANE. 

Thus  Lee — that  stubborn  obstacle  —  was  still  there 
—  worse  than  all  he  was  entrenched.  From  right  to 
left  extended,  in  front  of  Gen.  Grant,  a  line  of  earth 
works  which  he  must  turn,  or  charge. 

He  tried  the  latter  first,  on  the  famous  "  12th  of 
May." 

On  the  10th,  he  had  already  assaulted  Laurel  Hill, 
on  the  Confederate  left,  where  there  were  no  breast 
works,  and  had  recoiled  from  it  with  a  loss  of  five  or 
six  thousand  men.  It  was  a  hardy  decision  which  the 
Federal  commander  now  adopted — to  storm  Lee's  front. 

The  point  selected  for  assault  was  the  famous  "  Horse- 
Shoe" — of  bloody  memory  to  the  Southerners. 

Did  the  reader  of  these  lines  fight  there — either 
clad  in  blue  and  attacking,  or  in  gray,  and  receiving 
that  attack  ?  If  so,  no  reference  to  the  ground  is  nec 
essary.  But  for  other  readers,  a  few  words  are  indis 
pensable. 

However  great  Lee  wad  as  an  engineer,  and  however 
careful  in  selecting  hfe  ground,  and  in  forming  hia 
order  of  battle,  that  ground  was  often  selected,  that 
order  of  battle  formed  by  his  subordinates  —  nay,  by 
the  very  rank  and  file. 

A  brigade  marched,  halted,  found  the  enemy  hi 
front,  and  straightway  the  men  began  to  throw  up  a 
dirt  breastwork.  This  was  done  without  orders,  with 
out  spades  —  at  hap-hazard,  and  with  the  bayonet. 
Tlnife  it  often  happened  that  when  Gen.  Lee  came  to 
the  front,  he  found  his  line  of  battle  formed  —  some 
times  according  to  rule,  sometimes  utterly  opposed  to 
ill  rules. 

From  this  originated  the  Horse-Shoe.     It  was  a  u 


BY  THS  LJSFT  FLAJTX.  249 

iicnl  projected  from  the  main  line  —  a  spec  .es  of  trim* 
gle,  nearly  north  of  the  Court  House,  —  and  presented 
a  temptation  to  the  enemy  which  no  well-regulated 
military  mind  was  capable  of  resisting.  As  soon  as 
Gen.  Grant  saw  it,  he  determined  to  attack  it. 

Now,  why,  it  may  be  asked,  if  the  position  was  eo 
dangerous,  did  not  Gen.  Lee  change  his  line,  shorten 
ing  and  strengthening  it  ?  The  reply  is,  that  to  retire 
a  line  of  battle  in  face  of  the  enemy  is  easier  to  speak 
of  than  to  do.  So  the  Horse-Shoe  was  left  there. 

On  the  morning  of  May  12th,  Gen.  Grant  delivered. 
his  great  blow  at  this  weak  point  in  his  adversary's 
cuirass. 

All  night  his  forces  were  concentrating  in  front  of 
it  His  design  was  to  make  a  wedge  of  his  best-tem 
pered  troops,  drive  it  into  the  Horse-Shoe,  split  that 
stubborn  obstacle,  his  opponent's  line,  and  then,  throw 
ing  his  whole  army  into  the  opening,  separate  Lee's 
tvings,  and  destroy  him. 

The  plan  was  excellent.  Humanly  speaking,  with 
Lee's  line  once  broken,  his  army  was  effectually  dis 
rupted.  Grant  saw  victory  hovering  for  him  in  the 
dim  dawn  of  that  May  morning. 

As  the  first  beams  of  day  began  to  struggle  through 
the  mist,  the  great  war-engine  began  to  move.  The 
crack  corps  selected  for  the  Federal  wedge  advanced 
without  noise,  came  on  the  Confederate  skirmisherg 
some  hundreds  of  yards  in  front,  walked  over  them 
without  firing  a  shot,  for  fear  of  giving  the  alarm,  and 
then,  as  day  began  to  dawn,  the  column  of  assault 
dashed  with  wild  cheers  up  to  the  Horse-Shoe. 

The  result  was  terrible — the  blow  almost  mortal, 


250  BY  THE  LEFT  FLANK. 

The  attack  was  wholly  unexpected,  and,  as  the  artil 
lery  defending  that  portion  of  the  line  had  been  retired 
On  the  evening  before,  its  warning  voice,  calling  to 
arms,  was  not  heard. 

The  Confederate  infantry  manning  the  works,  woke 
from  sleep  to  feel  the  bayonet  thrust  into  their  breasts. 
The  Federal  infantry  mounted  the  works  almost  unop. 
posed,  swarmed  in  the  trenches,  fusilladed  the  half- 
awake  Southerners,  bayoneted  some,  stabbed,  thrust, 
i,ut  at  others,  drove  the  whole  force  from  the  Horse- 
Shoe,  in  spite  of  heroic  resistance,  and  a  rolling  thun 
der  of  cheers  rose  from  the  woods,  electric  with  vic 
tory. 

We  have  said  "  in  spite  of  heroic  resistance,"  and  the 
resistance  of  those  half-awake,  almost  unarmed  men, 
was  heroic.  It  is  nothing  to  trained  soldiers  to  fight  in 
open  field,  in  broad  day,  with  lines  formed,  artillery  in 
position,  the  enemy  there  in  front,  man  against  man, 
bayonet  against  bayonet,  with  the  banner  floating  in 
the  sun,  and  the  army  leaders  in  front,  directing  all. 
Then,  even  the  timid  gather  heart,  and  do  their  duty 
in  action ;  shoulder  to  shoulder  the  men  advance  to  the 
assault. 

But  to  be  surprised  in  the  dark  hour  just  preceding 
day — to  be  attacked  in  sleep — to  i>e  waked  from  » 
dream  of  home,  and  wife,  and  children,  by  a  bayonei 
thrust — to  start  up  and  utter  a  cry,  with  which  blood 
mingles — to  shout  "to  arms!"  and  then  to  fall  back 
in  a  pool  of  gore —  to  see  your  enemy  swarming  every 
where,  and  shooting  down  all  who  resist — to  hear  dia 
bolical  cries,  hoarse  exclamations,  curses,  menaces,  yells, 
and  to  feel  that  all  is  ever  before  the  fight  has  begun  — 


BT  THB  LEFT  PLANK.  151 

that  is  enough  to  try  stout  nerves,  and  tear  soldiership. 
The  men  who  tight  then  are  brave  ;  hero:  3  resistance 
to  an  attack  like  that  shows  race  and  blood.  The  re 
sistance  of  the  Southern  infantry  in  the  Horse-Shoe 
that  morning  was  the  resistance  of  true  soldiers.  Start 
ing  from  slumber,  their  first  thought  was  the  musket, 
and  the  clutch  on  the  weapon  followed.  Then  com 
menced  a  fight  in  the  trenches  which  had  in  it  some 
thing  diabolical  and  fearful.  Men  fell  and  died  in  the 
darkness;  breasts  were  pierced  by  unseen  bayonets; 
invisible  clubbed  muskets  dealt  blows  in  the  dark ;  a 
wild  and  terrible  wrestle,  as  of  nightmares  incarnate, 
took  place  in  the  trenches. 

Quick  reports,  then  the  sudden  crack  of  a  fusillade, 
then  the  roar  of  a  few  cannon — that  was  all.  The 
Federal  troops  dashed  on  the  guns,  and  tore  the  Ian 
yards  from  the  hands  of  the  cannoneers.  Capt.  Wil 
liam  Page  Carter  bravely  rushed  to  his  single  gun, 
with  his  own  hands  fired  it  until  the  enemy  caught  his 
arm,  and  made  him  prisoner ;  then,  that  last  gun  si 
lenced,  the  drama  ended. 

The  Horse-Shoe  was  taken,  and  two  or  three  thou 
sand  men  of  Johnson's  division,  with  eighteen  pieces 
of  artillery,  just  hurried  forward,  captured.  Federal 
cheers  vibrated  in  the  morning  air  above  the  woods  and 
orchards — the  Confederates  had  ceased  to  fight — 
were  dead,  dying,  or  retreating. 

Then  came  the  moment  when  great  generals  crusti 
their  opponents.  If  the  Northern  army  had  poured 
into  that  fatal  gap,  and  rushed  straight  upon  Lee,  it  ia 
not  too  much  to  ray  that  he  would  have  been  driven 
from  hifi  position  But  its  movements  were  delayed 


95S  BY  THE  LBPT  FLAMK. 

Time  passed.  When  Gen.  Grant  bad  made  hia  prepa 
rations  and  advanced,  he  found  his  opponent  in  a  nevr 
position — with  a  line  straighter,  shorter,  stronger — 
and  fvery  gray  soldier  ready  to  receive  the  great  as- 
mult. 

It  was  made,  and  it  raged  from  dawn  to  evening 
but  accomplished  nothing.  The  Southern  lines,  fight 
ing  in  the  open  field,  did  not  budge  an  inch.  When 
night  descended,  the  great  success  of  the  Horse-Shoe 
had  brought  no  result  to  the  Federal  commander,  ex 
cept  the  mere  capture  of  some  prisoners  and  artillery. 
Then  with  night  came  rest;  new  breastworks  rose, 
crowned  with  artillery ;  the  Confederates  were  laugh 
ing  and  saying,  "  Come  on,  we  are  ready ! " 

In  front  of  this  line  Gen.  Grant  remained  more 
than  a  week,  moving  to  and  fro,  reconnoitering,  dem 
onstrating,  feeling  everywhere  for  an  opening  in  hii 
adversary's  breastplate.  There  was  none,  and  yet  that 
opening  was  indispensable  for  successful  assault.  The 
hammer  had  been  clanging  for  weeks  now,  and  no 
joint  was  loosened.  It  was  evident  that  the  anvil 
would  not  break.  Somewhere  the  sword's  point  must 
glide  in,  but  that  somewhere  eluded  the  most  vigilant 
search. 

Demonstrations,  movements,  "manoeuvring"  —  the 
much  despised  manoeuvring  —  amounted  to  nothing. 
Grant's  crescent-shaped  line  revolved  around  his  oppo 
nent's  right ;  but  there,  when  it  arrived,  was  the  Lee- 
orescent  awaiting  it.  Another  revc  hition — there  BtiL 
«  as  Leo. 

Then,  one  morning,  when  the  Confederate  com 
mander  was  about  to  extend  hia  right  still  farther,  to 


BT  THE  LEFT  FLANK.  853 

meet  »  aew  movement  of  his  adversary,  a  swift-riding 
courier  brought  him  a  dispatch,  which  he  read  with 
calm  attention.  Grant  was  moving  his  Jeft  Hunk 
toward  Hanover  Junction ;  he  had  given  up  all  further 
attacks  upon  Lee  in  Spottsylvania.  Grant  hastened 
foward  through  the  woods  and  fields;  headed  siraigiu 
for  Hanover  Junction;  arrived;  threw  a  column  OAer 
the  North  Anna  —  and  saw  Lee  awaiting  him. 

He  reached  the  river  on  the  23rd  of  May;  on  the 
26th  he  had  given  up  in  despair  the  attempt  to  defeat 
Lee  there.  Some  hard  fighting  is  summed  up  and 
passed  over  in  that  brief  statement.  Were  we  to 
describe  all  the  hard  fighting  of  this  bloody  campaign, 
the  present  sketch  would  be  swollen  into  a  volume. 

One  feature  of  this  occasion,  however,  is  worthy  of 
note  —  Lee's  peculiar  order  of  battle.  Between  the 
two  commanders  lay  the  river.  Grant's  object  was  to 
force  its  passage.  To  accomplish  this,  with  the  least 
possible  loss,  he  threw  a  column  over  on  Lee's  left,  and 
one  on  his  right,  thinking,  doubtless,  that  this  move 
ment  would  induce  his  adversary  to  retire  his  line. 

The  line  was  not  retired.  Lee  seemed  determined 
here  to  act  upon  tho  maxim  of  Napoleon  never  to  do 
what  your  enemy  wishes  you  to  do — if  for  no  other 
reason,  simply  beo»use  he  wishes  you  to  do  it.  So, 
instead  of  retiring,  Lee  threw  back  his  right  and  left 
wings,  clinging  with  his  centre  to  the  river  —his  army 
taking  thus  the  form  of  two  sides  of  an  equilateral 
triangle.  One  might  ha^e  fancied  a  grim  humour  in 
this  movement.  It  forced  (Jen.  Grant  to  make  two 
river  crossings  if  he  wished  to  reinforce  either  wing  bj 
oioving  troopa  from  the  other.  Th*.  "situation"  evi 


254  BY  THE  LEFT  PLANK. 

dently  displeased  the   Federal   commander.     He  re 
crossed  his  columns,  and   on   the  night  of   the   26th 
withdrew  quietly,  and  with  secrecy,  toward  the  lower 
Pamunkey,  intending  to  cross  at  llano  vert  own,  and 
hurry  foward  upon  Richmond. 

On  the  27th  he  was  over  at  Hanovertown  ;  hastened 
on;  reached  the  Tottapotamoi,  a  sluggish  stream  ji 
the  Hanover  slashes,  and  there,  on  the  southern  bank 
of  the  water  course,  was  Lee. 

Then  the  thunder  recommenced.  The  great  hum 
mering  operation  went  on  night  and  day  —  infantry 
wrestled,  cavalry  clashed,  artillery  roared.  The  days 
were  waked  and  put  to  sleep  with  thunder. 

In  Grant's  path  still  lay  the  old  lion,  shaking  from 
his  mane  every  javelin  launched  against  liim,  and 
watching  his  opportunity  to  spring,  or  ready  to  meet 
the  spring  of  his  huge  adversary.  It  was  at  C«ld  Har 
bour,  on  the  3rd  of  June,  that  they  clutched. 

Reaching  that  point  by  his  incessant  flank  move> 
ment,  on  the  1st  of  June,  Gen.  Grant,  on  the  3rd, 
made  another  assault  like  his  attack  on  the  Horse- 
Shoe. 

This  was  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbour,  Number  Tw,». 

Strange  freak  of  chance, — the  unskilled  reader  may 
sKxelaim, — which  rolled  the  wave  of  battle  to  the  New 
Kent  fields  a  second  time,  pouring  out  more  blood 
there,  now,  in  June,  1864,  than  there  was  poured  out 
in  June,  1862.  No — ir  war  there  is  no  chance; 
there  is  law.  There  is  a  g'  ddess  more  powerful  than 
the  Greek  Necessity,  with  her  iron  wedge  —  it  is  the 
Terrain  In  all  coming  ages,  as  in  June,  1862  and 
1864,  an  enemy  attempting  to  force  the  Chickahonj 


BT  THE  LEFT  FLANK.  255 

iny  and  assail  Richmond,  must  fight  near  Cold  Har 
bour. 

Grant  was  compelled  to  fight  there,  or  to  continue 
his  Wandering- Jew  march —  and  he  fought. 

As  in  Spottsylvania,  he  selected  early  dawn  for  his 
time  of  attack,  and  at  dawn,  on  June  3,  he  assailed 
Lee's  whole  front — not  manosuvring  at  all,  but  attack 
ing  as  the  bull  attacks —  head  down,  and  determined 
to  sweep  away  every  obstacle,  or  crack  the  osfrontis. 

Thus,  that  fight  was  not  a  battle  so  much  as  a  butch 
ery.  No  other  word  so  well  describes  it.  The  mad 
combat  was  over  in  thirty  minutes,  and  it  cost  Gen. 
Grant  thirteen  thousand  men.  Lee's  loss  was  about  as 
many  score. 

How  to  describe  such  a  conflict  ?  There  is  nothing 
to  describe.  There  was  no  brainwork  of  the  com 
mander  about  it;  it  was  simply  and  purely  a  brute 
rush  upon  breastworks,  and  a  carnival  of  death. 

It  may  not  be  just  to  Gen.  Grant  to  say  that,  with 
the  information  before  him,  he  ought  not  to  have 
made  that  attack,  for  all  the  authorites  go  to  show  that 
in  the  Federal  army  at  that  time,  there  was  an  almost 
universal  conviction  that  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  was  nearly  disorganized  aud  thoroughly  demoral 
ized  by  the  tremendous  battles  of  the  Wilderness  and 
Spottsylvania.  Grant,  doubtless,  believed  that  he  had 
no  other  alternative  than  to  force  the  Chickahominy  ; 
that  a  short,  sharp,  and  decisive  blow  might  be  bloody, 
but  would  attain  that  object;  that  the  attempt  was 
thus  worth  making,  in  view  of  the  mighty  results 
attending  success. 


866  By  TBS  LEVT  FLANK. 

Let  military  critics  decide  the  question.  We  liar- 
rate. 

At  half -past  four  in  the  morning,  Grant  made  a 
resolute  attack  on  Lee's  entire  front  The  men  moved 
forward  bravely  got  nearly ;  up  to  the  breastworks  ITT 
many  places;  did  all  they  could;  but  every  where,  in 
thirty  minutes — that  is,  by  five  o'clock  —  were  hurled 
back  by  the  merciless  Confederate  fire  —  or  they  were 
dead  and  dying  in  front  of  the  works. 

Gen.  Lee  sent  to  A.  P.  Hill  to  ask  the  result  of  the 
attack  on  him.  Hill  took  the  oflicer  with  him,  in 
front  of  his  line  of  works,  and  showed  him  the  Federal 
dead  piled  up  and  lying  on  each  other. 

"  Tell  Gen.  Lee  it  is  the  same  all  along  my  front," 
he  said. 

And  it  was  the  same,  or  nearly,  along  the  front  cf 
the  whole  army. 

The  Federal  troops  had  done  all  that  men  could  do 
The  impossible  was  beyond  their  strength.  They  felt 
the  hopeless  character  of  the  undertaking  after  that 
first  charge,  and  doggedly  refused  to  make  another 
attempt.  The  order  from  Gen.  Grant  was  transmitted 
to  the  corps  commanders,  thence  to  the  commanders  of 
divisions,  thence  to  the  brigadiers,  thence  to  the  colo 
nels,  thence  to  the  captains,  and  the  captains  drew 
(heir  swords,  placed  themselves  in  front  of  their  men, 
and  ordered,  "  Forward ! " 

No  response  came.  The  men  did  not  move.  The 
old  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  knew  what 
they  could  do,  and  what  they  could  not  do.  They 
could  not  carry  the  Confederate  works,  and  they  diet 
no  t  intend  to  go  and  get  killed  in  front  of  them.  Thia 


BY  THB  LEFT  FLANK.  857 

JB  the  Federal  account  of  wLat  took  place  in  that  arm/ 
on  tho  morning  of  June  3,  1864. 

About  one  o'clock  in  the  day,  a  profound  silence 
nettled  down  upon  the  two  armies.  Not  even  a  skir 
mishers  musket  cracked.  Gen.  Grant  had  lost,  as  we 
have  said,  thirteen  thousand  men.  His  whole  loss, 
from  the  Rapidan  to  this  time,  amounted  to  about 
i:xty  thousand.  Lee's  was  about  eighteen  thousand. 
That  was  the  result  of  attacking  breastworks  and  of 
tigrhting  behind  them.  Taking  the  casualties  as  a  test, 
those  breastworks  had  tripled  Lee's  strength. 

The  bloody  work  of  June  3,  settled  the  question 
whether  Gen.  Grant  could  force  the  Chickahominy. 
He  found  that  movement  beyond  his  strength,  and,  on 
the  12th,  recommenced  his  left  flank  advance  —  this 
time  across  the  Chickahominy,  and  across  the  James, 
on  Petersburg.  There  he  would  commence  the  siege 
of  Richmond. 

From  the  first,  that  had  been  the  true  card  to  play. 
There  were  only  two  men  who  seemed  to  know  it  — 
Lee  and  McClellan. 

Lee  had  said,  as  far  back  as  1861,  that  this  was  thti 
weak  side  of  Richmond,  for  an  attack  there  threatened 
the  Confederate  communications  with  the  South.  And 
McClellan,  after  his  defeat  at  Cold  Harbour,  had 
urged,  as  Gen.  Halleck's  letters  show,  the  adoption  of 
the  very  scheme  which  Gen.  Grant  now  carried  into 
effect. 

What  was  declared  absurd  in  1862,  Trag  now,  in  1864, 
seen  to  be  dictated  by  the  soundest  military  science. 
Defeated  at  Cold  Harbour.  Grant  made  for  Petersburg, 
and  nearly  surprised  and  poized  the  town ;  but  J/ee  ar 


868  BT  1a.a  LEFT  FLAJSTL 

rived,  and  a  powerful  line  of  works  was  drawn  aroTind 
the  place.  By  the  last  of  July,  Gen.  Grant  had  sat 
down  before  Petersburg,  determined,  apparently,  on 
not  only  "  fighting  it  out  on  this  line,  if  it  took  all  th« 
summer,"  but  many  summers. 

Honour  to  obstinate  resolve,  and  the  heart  that  does 
not  despair !  Grant  had  them. 

We  have  placed  at  the  head  of  this  sketch  the  titles 
of  the  three  great  struggles,  par  excellence,  which 
marked  the  immense  campaign,  extending  from  the 
crossing  of  the  Rapidan,  in  May,  1864,  to  the  capture 
of  Petersburg,  ill  April,  1865.  In  the  fighting  of  that 
bloody  year — fighting  incessant,  stubborn,  never-re 
laxing,  full  of  trained  f ury  and  mathematical  impetus 
— in  this  terrible  carnival  of  death,  three  days  are 
bloodiest,  shining  with  a  light  more  baleful  than  the 
rest.  These  were  the  days  of  the  Horse-Shoe,  of  Cold 
Harbour,  and  what  we  call  the  "  Crater  "  —  that  is  to 
say,  the  assault  following  the  explosion  of  the  mine 
near  Petersburg,  on  the  30th  of  July.  To  this  latter 
we  now  proceed. 

The  mine  was  devised  by  one  of  the  Federal  colo 
nels,  and  was  long  looked  upon  very  coldly  by  both 
Generals  Meade  and  Burnside.  Gen.  Grant  seemed 
not  to  be  aware  of  the  project. 

The  originator  of  the  idea,  nevertheless,  worked  at 
it  with  all  tli3  patience  of  an  inventor,  who  feels  that, 
however  much  he  may  be  disregarded  now,  he  will, 
some  day,  astonish  the  world. 

The  point  selected  was  near  Petersburg,  on  the 
poutli  bank  of  the  river,  and  as  the  opposing  lines  here 
approached  very  near  each  other,  it  seemed  feasible  to 


BY  THE  LEFT  PLANK. 


run  a  subterranean  passage  beneath  the  Confederate 
works,  and  blow  them  up. 

Once  undertaken,  the  work  was  protecuted  with 
ardor.  The  workmen  successfully  eluded  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Confederates.  The  dirt  was  carried  off  in 
cracker-boxes;  the  long  hole  grew  longer;  the  mine 
7»a*  becoming  a  great  success  —  and  then  Gen.  BUTE- 
side  began  to  see  in  it  a  very  brilliant  project. 

Toward  the  end  of  July  it  was  done.  It  was  about 
five  hundred  feet  long  ;  had  lateral  galleries  ;  in  these 
galleries  were  placed  kegs  of  powder,  sufficient,  it  war 
supposed,  to  blow  up  a  mountain  ;  all  was  ready. 

Then  came  the  question  how  to  utilize  the  grand  ex 
plosion.  It  was  not  worth  the  while  of  Gen.  Grant  to 
go  to  all  this  trouble  only  to  destroy  a  company  or  a 
regiment,  at  the  point  in  question.  Obviously,  the 
project  admitted  of  greater  results.  Lee's  lines  would 
be  broken;  his  defences  overthrown;  if,  amid  the 
noise  and  confusion,  the  smoke  and  the  uproar,  a  crack 
division  were  to  charge  over  the  debris,  push  on,  seize 
a  high  crest  behind  the  "  Crater,"  and  root  themselves 
firmly  there,  would  not  Lee's  line  be  disrupted,  his 
i>osition  right  and  left  be  rendered  untenable,  and  the 
most  important  results,  if  not  the  destruction  of  the 
Confederates,  be  attainable  ? 

The  prospect  was  exciting,  and  all  at  once  a  vivid 
interest  in  the  famous  mine  was  betrayed  by  the  higher 
officers,  who,  up  to  that  time,  had  looked  sidewise  at 
the  cracker-box  operation  as  the  dream  of  a  Msionary. 

Tho  movement  to  seize  the  crest  in  rear  was  speedily 
determined  upon,  and  elaborate  preparations  were 
made  to  deliver  the  great  blow,  and  follow  it  up. 


BT  TSS  UBPT  PLANK., 

All  at  once,  however,  a  singular  obstacle  presented 
itself  —  an  embarrassing  question.  What  division 
should  make  the  great  charge?  Should  a  white  divi 
sion  or  a  black  division  be  selected  I 

A  division  of  the  white  troops  was  selected  —  bj 
'*  pulling  straws,"  Gen.  Grant  afterwards  said,  in  hie 
quiet,  sarcastic  way.  The  negro  troops  were  not  to 
have  the  honour — they  were  to  follow. 

"  The  first  and  great  cause  of  disaster,"  said  the  Con 
gressional  Committee,  which  afterwards  investigated 
the  facts, "  was  the  employment  of  white  troops  instead 
of  black  troops  to  make  the  charge  /" 

What  a  statement!  Why  that  "unkmdest  cut  of 
all "  to  the  brave  Army  of  the  Potomac  ?  Did  they 
deserve  it  ? — that  army  of  veterans,  who  had  poured  out 
their  blood  upon  half  a  hundred  battle-fields,  who  had 
borne  aloft  the  United  States  flag  amid  the  thunder  of 
such  conflicts  as  the  world  has  rarely  seen,  who  had 
met  the  whole  power  of  the  Confederacy  for  three 
mortal  years;  standing  erect  where  the  ground  was 
slippery  with  blood ;  fighting  still,  on  fields  where  hope 
had  deserted  them ;  maintaining,  in  the  dark  day  as  in 
the  bright,  in  the  tempest  as  in  the  sunshine,  that  heart 
of  hope  which  springs  from  courage  and  devotion ) 
Dukindest  of  all,  truly,  was  that  cut  of  the  Congres 
sional  Committee's  poinard  — "  The  first  and  great 
cause  of  disaster  was  the  employment  of  white  instead 
if  black  troops  to  make  the  charge  I " 

At  half -past  four,  on  the  morning  of  July  30th,  a 
great  roar,  heard  for  thirty  miles,  came  from  the  point 
selected,  and  under  the  feet  of  Lee's  soldiers  manning 
the  bread tvorkfl  opened  the  crater  of  a  volcano. 


f  r  THE  LEFT  JfLAJfSi  Wl 

Men  ^r-sre  burled  into  the  air,  mere  mangled  corpses, 
j>r  torn  to  pieces  where  they  stood.  Cannon  were 
lifted  as  by  the  hand  of  a  giant  and  thrown  hundreds 
of  feet.  Where  a  moment  before  had  stretched  a  line 
of  breastworks,  defended  by  infantry  and  artillery,  was 
now  seen  a  hideous  pit  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet 
long,  sixty  feet  wide,  and  thirty  feet  deep. 

From  this  had  issued  a  great  column  of  flame  and 
smoke,  as  of  Etna  in  travail ;  and  now,  this  terrible 
crater  was  a  mass  of  mangled  bodies,  broken  gun-car 
riages,  barrels  of  cannon;  a  heterogeneous,  hideous, 
smoking  debris  of  burnt  flesh,  burnt  equipments,  and 
men  gasping  in  the  death  agony,  with  flame  licking 
and  smoke  suffocating  them. 

Then  came  the  charge.  A  white  division  rushed 
forward,  followed  by  negro  troops,  and  before  any 
resistance  could  be  made  by  the  Confederates,  they  had 
passed  over  the  narrow  space  between  the  lines, 
mounted  the  acclivity,  reached  the  Crater — they  were 
within  the  Confederate  lines. 

So  far,  all  had  gone  well,  and  there  seemed  every 
probability  that  Gen.  Lee  would  be  forced  to  fight  a 
desperate  battle  for  the  possession  of  the  commanding 
crest  in  rear  of  the  point  at  which  the  mine  had  been 
exploded.  That  crest  was  not  a  mere  point  of  military 
advantage,  but  a  key  position.  Holding  it,  as  we  have 
said,  the  enemy  would  be  firmly  planted  in  the  very 
centre  of  his  line  of  battle  ;  they  would  command  the 
works  to  the  right  and  left  of  it,  rendering  them  unten 
able  ;  at  one  blow  Lee  would  be  driven  to  take  up  an 
interior  line,  and  that  is  an  operation  ot  the  ntmotl 
delicacy  when  pushed  by  a  victorious  enemy. 


BT  THE  LEFT  PLANK. 

The  importance  of  a  rapid  and  vigorous  advance  tc 
the  crest  referred  to  has  never  been  called  in  question. 
That  it  was  not  done,  profoundly  enraged  the  North, 
and  especially  the  Congressional  Committee ;  but  the 
origin  of  the  complete  failure  of  the  affair  appears  to 
us  attributable  to  other  causes  than  the  "  employment 
of  white  instead  of  black  troops  to  charge." 

Instead  of  commenting,  we  narrate.  Let  the  reader 
judge. 

The  "white  division"  charged,  reached  the  Crater, 
stumbled  over  the  debris,  were  suddenly  met  by  a  mer 
ciless  fire  of  artillery,  enfilading  them  right  and  left — 
of  infantry  fusillading  them  in  front;  faltered,  hesi 
tated,  were  badly  led,  lost  heart,  gave  up  the  plan  of 
seizing  the  crest,  huddled  into  the  Crater,  man  on  top 
of  man,  company  mingling  with  company ;  and  then 
upon  this  disordered,  unstrung,  quivering  mass  of  hu 
man  beings,  white  and  black — for  the  black  troopt 
had  followed — was  poured  a  hurricane  of  shot,  shell, 
canister,  musketry,  which  made  the  hideous  Crater  a 
slaughter-pen,  horrible  and  frightful  beyond  the  power 
of  words. 

All  order  was  lost;  all  idea  of  charging  the  crest 
abandoned.  Lee's  infantry  was  seen  concentrating  for 
the  carnival  of  death;  his  artillery  was  massing  to 
destroy  the  remnant  of  the  charging  division ;  those  who 
deserted  the  Crater  to  scramble  over  the  debris  and  run 
b?.ck,  were  shot  down ;  then,  all  that  was  left  to  that 
struggling,  huddling,  shuddering  mass  of  blacks  and 
arhites  in  the  pit,  was  to  shrink  lower,  evade  the  horri 
ble  mitraille,  and  wait  for  a  counter-charge  of  theii 
friends,  to  rescue  them,  or  surrender. 


BT  THE  LSFT  FLANK* 

Such  had  been  the  result  of  the  great  explo«c/n  and 
charge  to  cut  Lee's  line  —  a  mass  of  disorganized 
troops,  torn  to  pieces  by  a  fire  which  they  scarcely 
attempted  to  return.  They  were  swallowed  up  in  that 
pit  which  their  own  hands  had  dug;  they  were  being 
butchered.  Gen.  Mahone,  turning  away  fiom  the 
spectacle,  muttered : 

"  Stop  the  fire !     It  makes  me  sick ! " 

Of  the  force  that  charged  there,  a  few  only  went 
back — the  rest  were  dead,  wounded,  or  prisoners. 

The  Federal  loss  was  four  thousand  men. 

So  ended  the  affair  of  the  "  Crater,"  as  the  Confed 
erates  called  it — the  "Mine,"  as  the  Federals  entitled 
it. 

It  was  the  singular  termination  of  a  singular  cam 
paign;  for  in  all  the  annals  of  the  war,  there  is  no 
stranger  chapter  than  that  over-land  campaign  of  Gen. 
Grant.  Beginning  with  a  blind,  invisible  combat  in 
the  depths  of  a  tangled  thicket  on  the  Rapidan,  it 
ended  for  the  moment  here,  on  the  shores  of  the  Appo- 
rnattox,  in  a  hideous  Crater,  where  the  dead  and  dying, 
like  the  rest,  were  torn  to  pieces,  amid  smoke  and 
flame,  with  every  circumstance  of  horror.  The  war 
had  thus  grown  brutal,  terrific,  instinct  with  a  species 
of  barbarous  fury.  Men  no  longer  fought  pitched  bat 
tles  in  open  fields;  they  grappled  in  thickets,  or  in 
dark  mornings  before  they  would  see  each  other,  or 
they  were  hurled  into  the  air  by  subterranean  explo 
sions.  To  kill — no  matter  how — seemed  the  great 
aim  and  object  of  the  combatants.  The  wild  beast  waa 
aroused,  and  in  the  very  clergyman  in  the  pulpit  that 


BT  TEH  LEFT  FLANK. 


spirit  of  the  wild  animal  is  dormant.     Judge  if  il  ii 

wanting  in  the  rank  and  file  of  an  army. 

It  was  this  spirit  of  the  tiger  that  we  have  seen  at 
its  revels,  on  the  days  of  the  Horse-shoe,  Cold  Har 
bour,  and  the  Crater. 

But  nothing  decisive  was  accomplished. 

It  is  true  that  Lee's  rapier  was  wearing.  The 
sledge-hammer  could  not  break  it,  but  "attrition" 
could  wear  away  the  blade.  Slowly,  it  grew  thinner 
The  edge  cut  still;  how  it  cut  the  world  kucvws  —  at 
Hatcher's  Run,  Hare's  Hill,  The  White  Oak  Koad—  in 
a  hundred  places  —  but  the  time  was  approaching  when 
it  must  give  way. 

In  the  last  of  these  sketches,  we  shall  show  the 
reader  that  keen  and  trenchant  weapon  flashing  its  old 
lightnings  in  the  grasp  of  Lee. 

It  snapped  at  Appomattox  in  that  stalwart  Land. 
but,  when  Lee  returned  the  stump  to  its  scabbard 
there  was  not  a  single  stain  upon  the  blade. 

It  was  the  mirror,  like  :'  a  master,  of  antique  faith 
and  honour. 


11 

HALT'S  BATTUES. 

OH  the  afternoon  of  July  11, 1864,  any  one  who  had 
ascended  the  dome  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  a 
pair  of  field-glasses  in  hand,  might  have  seen  to  the 
northward,  beyond  Fort  Stevens,  through  the  hot  air 
rising  and  rippling,  like  the  breath  of  a  furnace,  long 
gray  lines,  of  infantry,  tipped  with  flashing  bayonets, 
grim  cannon  coming  steadily  into  position,  and  red 
flags  clinging  to  their  staffs  in  the  sultry  evening,  but 
not  so  closely  as  to  be  taken  for  the  banners  of  the 
United  States. 

In  fact,  those  were  Confedetate  infantry,  Confeder 
ate  artillery,  and  Confederate  flags.  St.  Andrew's 
Cross,  instead  of  Stars  and  Stripes,  gray  instead  of 
blue,  was  there  in  front  of  Washington.  The  capitol 
was  threatened  ;  all  was  in  commotion ;  when  a  cloud 
of  skirmishers  advanced,  and  cannon  began  to  roar,  a 
Northern  writer  declares  that  "  the  hope  at  head-quar 
ters  that  the  capital  could  be  saved  from  capture  was 
very  slender." 

The  aim  of  this  sketch  is  to  describe  in  rapid  sum 
mary  the  events  which  preceded  and  followed  thii 
event. 

Lee  was  fighting  Grant  on  the  Chickahominj  when 
(985) 


SABLES  BATTLES. 


intelligence  came  that  Hunter  was  advancing  np  h« 
Shenandoah  Valley,  burning  and  destroying  m.lls, 
barne  and  dwelling  houses,  on  his  way  to  Lyneliburg, 
It  was  absolutely  necessary  to  protect  that  place  ;  it 
was  an  important  depot,  and  commanded  Lee's  com 
munications  with  the  south-west  —  thus  a  strong  de 
tachment  was  sent  forward  from  the  Chickahominy  to 
check  Hunter's  advance. 

This  force  was  placed  under  command  of  Gen. 
Early,  and  his  orders  were  brief  and  explicit.  They 
were  to  "move  to  the  Valley  through  Swift  Hun 
Gap,  or  Brown's  Gap,  attack  Hunter,  and  then  cross 
the  Potomac  and  threaten  Washington."  * 

The  column  placed  at  the  disposition  of  Early  was 
about  eight  thousand  men. 

Without  delay  he  pushed  after  Hunter,  who  was  al 
ready  near  Lynehburg.  At  his  approach  the  Federal 
commander  made  a  feeble  effort  to  defend  himself, 
but,  before  Early's  resolute  attack,  his  lines  gave  way. 
Then  once  in  motion  they  did  not  stop.  Gen.  Hun 
ter  had  mercilessly  harried  the  women  and  children  of 
the  Valley,  but  when  bayonets  came,  he  dieappeared. 
Early  was  on  his  track,  destroyed  great  masses  of  his 
stores,  drove  him  rapidly  —  soon  Gen.  Hunter  was 
fleeing  wildly  through  the  Alleghanies,  westward,  like 
a  planet  hurled  from  its  orbit  into  space.  When  ho 
reached  the  Ohio,  far  from  all  connection  with  the 
main  army,  he  commanded  only  a  handful.  Early 
was  advancing  on  Washington. 

The  march  of    the  Confederate   command  T   wai 

*  MS.  rtatementof  Gen.  Early,  in  exflft  at  Toronto. 


EARLT8  BATTLS& 


rapid.  On  the  3d  of  July  he  was  at  Martinsburg,  and 
drove  Siegel  into  Maryland.  On  the  8th  of  July,  he 
was  at  Monocacy,  near  Frederick  City,  and  had  de 
feated  Gen.  Wallace  in  a  battle  of  great  fury.  On 
the  afternoon  of  the  llth  of  July,  as  we  have  said,  his 
troops  came  in  sight  of  Washington. 

Considering  the  condition  of  the  weather,  this  march 
was  tremendous.  Under  the  burning  sun  of  July,  the 
men  had  tramped  on  steadily,  scarce  pausing  at  night  ; 
and,  though  thousands  could  not  keep  up  and  hun 
dreds  dropped  by  the  way,  there  at  last  was  the  long- 
coveted  dome  of  the  capitol  in  sight  ;  under  those 
roofs,  President,  heads  of  departments,  citizens,  were 
trembling  for  the  safety  of  the  city. 

Such  had  been  Lee's  great  coup  de  main  to  deplete 
Grant's  army.  He  was  hemmed  in  at  Petersburg,  but 
one  .  hundred  and  fifty  miles  from  that  great  arena, 
voices  called  upon  Gen.  Grant  for  succor  against  im 
pending  destruction  from  the  very  adversary  whom  he 
had  driven  to  bay. 

The  blow  failed,  the  reader  will  say.  Yes,  but  it 
very  nearly  succeeded  —  nearly  accomplished  a  double 
object.  Washington  narrowly  escaped  capture  — 
Grant  narrowly  escaped  a  peremptory  order  from  the 
President  of  the  United  States  to  evacuate  his  lines  at 
i  'etersburg,  and  return  to  the  defence  of  the  capital. 

That  was  the  moment  when  a  single  trait  of  the 
Federal  commander  was  worth  to  his  government  a 
thousand  millions.  He  clung  to  his  earthworks  still, 
in  front  of  Lee,  sending  only  a  detachment.  And  that 
detachment  arriyed  in  time,  and  was  sufficient. 

On  the  afternoon  of  Julv  llth,  it  seems  possible  thai 


268  EARLY* B  BATTLS& 

Early  might  have  captured  Washington.  His  farce 
was  email,  from  the  rapidity  of  hie  march  i  nder  that 
burning  sun  ;  but  the  enemy's  was  smaller.  This  was 
probably  unknown  to  him,  however,  and  he  waited 
until  the  next  day.  But  then  the  Sixth  and  Nine 
teenth  Corps  of  Grant's  army  had  arrived,  and  when 
the  Confederates  pushed  up  to  the  works,  they  saw  in 
front  of  them  the  serried  ranks,  and  the  familiar 
hedge  of  bayonets,  of  their  old  foe,  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

Then  they  knew  what  to  expect.  War  is  better 
than  an  introduction  in  saloons.  Men  who  fight  know 
each  other,  and  there  never  were  more  intimate  ac 
quaintances  than  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  and  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

On  the  evening  of  the  12th  the  Federal  infantry 
sallied  forth,  and  the  blades  clashed.  Early's  loss  was 
nothing,  but  he  saw  that  the  capture  of  the  city  was 
impossible  —  that  Hunter,  Siegel,  and  their  compeers 
were  ready  to  close  in  on  his  rear  from  Harper's  Ferry 
—  that,  front  and  rear,  he  was  menaced  by  an  over 
powering  force.  He  determined,  therefore,  like  a 
good  soldier,  to  withdraw,  and  that  very  night  hia 
iines  were  in  motion  for  the  Shenandoah  Valley. 

Retreating  toward  Frederick  with  the  supplies  which 
he  had  collected,  he  recrossed  the  Potomac,  near  Lees 
burg,  pushed  on  through  the  Blue  Ridge,  where  he 
had  a  heavy  skirmish  with  the  enemy,  and  was  once 
more  back  in  the  Shenandoah  \alley,  whither  the 
Tenth  and  Nineteenth  Corps  of  the  Federal  army, 
under  General  Hunter,  were  sent  to  keep  the  dam  g 
raider  in  check. 


SARLT'B  BATTLES.  269 

Hunter's  success  was  mediocre.  It  was  an  admi 
rable  exhibition  of  partisan  warfare  on  a  Urge  scale 
— that  series  of  movement?  which  followed  on  the 
part  of  Early.  Gen.  Hunter  had  n<~>  rest.  He  dared 
not  advance  beyond  Charlestown,  and,  with  an  HI  my 
about  four  times  the  size  of  Early's.  was  completely 
checkmated.  Unhappily,  this  bad  fortune  reacted 
on  the  inhabitants.  Gen.  Hunter  seemed  to  have 
woes  to  avenge  on  somebody.  He  burned,  near 
Charlestown  —  it  was  his  own  order — the  handsome 
dwelling  house  of  his  cousin,  Andrew  Hunter,  while 
the  daughters  of  that  gentleman  occupied  it.  Ten 
minutes  were  given  them  to  retire.  "Why  this  was 
done,  it  is  impossible  for  the  present  writer  to  say. 
The  problem  is  curious,  for  men  are  not  generally  wil 
ling  to  make  their  names  execrated  without  reason. 

At-  the  end  of  July,  it  was  seen  that  Gen.  Hunter 
could  do  nothing,  and  Gen.  Sheridan  replaced  him. 
The  campaign  of  the  summer  and  fall,  which  attracted 
so  much  attention  to  the  Shenandoah  Valley  —  which 
blazed  with  the  fights  of  the  Opequon,  Fisher's  Hill, 
*nd  Cedar  Creek — then  commenced. 

Early's  force  was  under  twelve  thousand  men  of  all 
arms.  Of  this  statement,  we  will  speedily  present  the 
proof.  What  was  the  enemy's  ? 

"  To  the  column  of  active  operation  under  Sheridan's 
command,"  says  an  able  Northern  writer,  *  "  consisting 
of  the  Sixth  and  Nineteenth  Corps,  and  the  infantry 
and  cavalry  of  West  Virginia,  under  Generals  Cr^ok 
and  Averi'l,  were  added  two  divisions  of  cavalry  from 

*  Mr.  William  Swinton  in  "Army  of  the  Potomac,"  p.  55& 


870  MARL  r 'S  .1ATTLS& 

the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  under  Torbert  and  Wilson 
This  g*»ve  him  an  effective  force  in  the  field  of  forty 
thousand  men,  whereof  ten  thousand  consisted  of 
excellent  cavalry — an  arm  for  the  use  of  which  the 
Shenaudoah  regions  affords  a  fine  field." 

Shr-idan  assumed  command  early  in  the  month  of 
August,  but  did  little  or  nothing  with  his  large  force 
until  late  in  September.  "Why  he  thus  remained  inac 
tive,  it  is  hard  to  say.  He  had  forty  thousand  men 
and  Early  about  ten  thousand  effective.  Gen.  Early 
describes  his  adversary  as  constitutionally  cautious  and 
timid,  but  he  acted  with  vigor  and  decision  afterwards, 
'iowever  this  may  be,  Gen.  Sheridan  did  nothing 
ntil  Gen.  Grant  came  to  visit  him. 

This  was  in  September,  and  Sheridan's  lines  were 
along  the  Opequon,  threatening  Early's  opposite,  and 
covering  Winchester.  He  urged  an  attack  on  the 
Confederate  forces.  Grant  looked  at  the  sitnation, 
came  to  a  decision,  and  said  to  him,  "  Go  in,"  * 

On  the  19th,  Sheridan  accordingly  went  in,  and  the 
battle  of  the  Opequon  followed. 

So  much  has  been  written  about  this  action,  and 
events  at  the  moment  attracted  so  much  attention  to 
it,  and  gave  it  such  celebrity  at  the  North,  that  we 
fear  our  sketch  will  appear  unworthy  of  the  subject. 
Calmly  looked  at  now,  in  the  light  of  all  the  facts,  it 
seems  the  greatest  burlesque  of  the  war. 

Gen.  Sheridan  had  from  :hirty  thousand  to  thirty- 
five  thousand  inf  antry,  and  about  ten  thousand  cavalry, 
the  best  mounted  and  equipped  that  lad  yet  taken  th« 
field. 

*  Bee  Grant's  report 


BATTLES.  Stt 


Early  had  eight  thousand  five  hundud  iifaatry, 
and  less  than  three  thousand  cavalry,  the  worst 
equipped  and  mounted  that  had  yet  fronted  an  enemy 
on  the  soil  of  the  continent. 

This  great  disproportion  was  indignantly  denied, 
afterwards,  by  Gen.  Sheridan,  and  Early  insulted  in 
his  exile  for  stating  the  truth.  Here  are  some  data 
to  form  an  opinion  upon.  It  is  worth  stopping  for  a 
moment  to  look  at  them. 

"  I  know  of  my  own  personal  knowledge,"  wrote  a 
Confederate  States  officer,  in  the  New  Orleans  Pica 
yune,  Jan.  13,  1866,  "that  Gen.  Early's  statement  is 
correct,  when  he  states  that  he  had  about  eight  thou 
sand  five  hundred  muskets  in  the  second  engagement 
with  Gen.  Sheridan.  I  was  a  staff  officer  for  four 
years  in  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.  I  was  a 
division  staff  officer,  Second  Army  Corps,  under  Gen. 
Early's  command,  from  the  time  the  Second  Corps 
was  detached  from  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
June,  1864,  to  the  time  it  was  ordered  to  Petersburg, 
December  1864.  I  was  present  at  the  battles  of  Win 
chester,  (or  Opequon,)  Fisher's  Hill,  and  Cedar  Creek. 
L  know  from  the  official  reports  which  I  myself  made, 
£.nd  from  actual  observation  at  reviews,  drilb,  inspec 
tions  in  camp,  and  on  the  march,  the  effective  strength 
of  every  brigade  and  division  of  infantry  under  Gen 
ICarly's  command,  (of  the  cavalry  and  artillery  I  can 
not  speak  so  authoritatively,)  and  I  can  therefore 
t.ssert  that  in  neither  one  f>f  these  actions,  abov6 
mentioned,  did  Gen.  Early  carry  nine  thousand  n\en. 
(infantry)  into  the  fight" 

"  One  who  served  on  Early's  staff,"  writing  in  the 


S7S  BAPLT'8  BATTLS& 

New  York  News,  of  February  10, 1866,  fmly  corrobo 
rates  this  statement. 

A  writer  in  the  Richmond  Times  says :  "  Of  Gen, 
Early's  actual  force  on  the  19th  of  September,  1864; 
the  day  of  the  battle  of  Winchester,  his  first  defeat, 
we  can  give  statistics  nearly  official,  procured  from  an 
officer  of  rank,  who  held  a  high  command  during  the 
campaign,  and  who  had  every  opportunity  of  know 
ing.*  Early's  infantry  consisted  of  —  total  infantry, 
eight  thousand  three  hundred;  total  cavalry,  three 
thousand  eight  hundred ;  total  artillery,  fifty-two  guns 
—  about  one  thousand  artillerists." 

We  omit  the  detailed  statement  of  the  strength  of 
divisions,  brigades,  and  batteries.  The  number  of  the 
cavalry  is  overestimated.  Gen.  Early  states  it  at  "  less 
than  three  thousand." 

The  fact  is,  Early's  force  of  all  arms  was  about 
twelve  thousand.  It  was  thus  regarded  as  truly  as 
tounding  when  Gen.  Sheridan  wrote  that  he  had  cap 
tured  thirteen  thousand  men  in  his  campaign,  and  that 
Early's  casualties  in  the  last  months  of  1864  could  be 
"  safely  estimated  at  twenty-six  thousand  eight  hun 
dred  and  eighty-one  men." 

Perhaps  the  satirical  comments  of  the  Richmond 
Times  may  contain  the  truth.  "  There  must  be  some 
error,"  says  the  Times,  "  in  Gen.  Sheridan's  statement 
of  the  number  of  prisoners  ca/ptured.  Thirteen  thou- 
eand  will  hardly  include  the  number  actually  taken  by 
him.  His  numerous  and  powerful  cavalry  swept  the 
country,  and  captured  nearly  everything  that  wore 

*  Probably,  Ckn.  Gordon  u  here  alluded  to. 


BARLF*  BATTLES.  273 

breeches  from  twelve  to  sixty.  The  number  actually 
captured  during  the  period  must  be  much  greater 
Probably  prisoners  under  five  years  old  were  not  regie 
tered  at  head-quarters,  and  few  of  the  women  retained 
m  captivity." 

To  return  to  the  narrative  of  events.  On  the  19th 
of  September  Sheridan  crossed  the  Opequon,  and  threw 
his  thirty  thousand  infantry  against  Early's  eight  thou 
sand  five  hundred.  The  battle  was  a  desperate  one, 
and  after  hours  of  stubborn  fighting,  Sheridan  had  not 
driven  the  Southerners  a  foot. 

This  statement,  greeted  with  incredulity  by  some 
readers,  is  nevertheless  the  truth.  The  resistance 
made  by  Early's  infantry,  and  his  heroically  served 
artillery,  was  so  obstinate,  that,  after  repeated  and 
vigorous  'assaults,  Gen.  Sheridan's  infantry  had  failed 
completely  in  forcing  back  the  thin  line  opposed  to 
them.  Whether  they  would  have  succeeded  ultimately 
with  their  infantry  alone,  it  is  hard  to  say.  Thirty 
thousand  men  ought  always  to  defeat  eight  or  nine 
thousand  —  three  or  four  ought  to  drive  one.  But  did 
they,  in  the  late  war  ?  Answer,  Sharpsburg,  Chancel 
lorsville,  Spottsylvania  I 

Early  held  his  ground  with  stubborn  courage  until 
four  in  the  afternoon.  Then  the  fatal  moment  came. 

Sheridan  massed  two  crack  divisions  of  cavalry,  un 
der  Generals  Merritt  and  A.verill,  on  his  right ;  drew  up 
his  powerful  infantry,  with  a  third  division  of  cavalry 
covering  his  left ;  and  at  four  o'clock,  made  a  general 
attack.  The  day  was  to  be  decided  by  the  cavalry. 
From  this  arm  of  Sheridan  now  came  the  coup  dt 
grace. 


274  MARLY  ^B  BATTLES. 

While  the  infantry  lines  closed  in,  in 
combat,  and  Early's  entire  resources  were  needed  to 
repulse  the  assault  on  his  front,  the  tw>  divisions  of 
Federal  cavalry,  on  Sheridan's  right,  moved  to  the 
Martinsburg  road,  enveloped  the  Confederate  left, 
drove  before  them  the  badly  equ^ped  cavalry  there, 
and  at  the  moment  when  the  hard  pressed  infantry  of 
Early  were  breasting  the  hurricane  in  front,  which 
threatened  to  sweep  them  away,  the  great  force  of 
Federal  horse  thundered  down,  with  drawn  sabres  and 
loud  cheers,  upon  their  left  flank  and  rear. 

That  decided  the  fate  of  the  day.  The  battle  was 
lost.  The  infantry  gave  back,  and  nothing  but  the 
magnificent  fighting  of  the  artillery  under  those  brave 
spirits,  Braxton  and  Carter,  saved  the  army  from  rout. 
The  guns  were  fought  to  the  muzzles.  In  the  midst 
of  a  storm  of  shot,  shell,  canister,  and  bullets,  the  can 
noneers  stood  to  their  pieces,  and  the  infantry  were 
thus  enabled  to  retire  in  something  like  order. 

Honour  to  whom  honour  is  due.  At  the  battle  of 
the  Opequon,  the  infantry  made  a  stubborn,  splendid 
fight ;  but  more  stubborn,  and  more  splendid,  was  the 
fight  of  the  artillery ! 

Such  was  this  action.  The  news  dashed  northward, 
and  hallelujahs  saluted  the  soap-bubble  as  it  rose, 
decked  out  with  splendid  colours,  in  the  sunshine  of 
victory.  But  soap-bubbles  are  fleeting.  The  day 
comes  when  they  are  pricked  and  vanish.  This  one 
was  pricked  by  Early's  pen.  from  his  place  of  exile, 
and  has  disappeared. 

Forty  thousand  men  had  driven  about  twelve  ihou- 
«aod  from  the  field.  There  was  the  whole  affair. 


MASLTB  BATTLES.  171 

But  a  victory  is  always  a  nctory.  The  world  at  large 
looks  to  "results."  They  Laugh  when  the  "details" 
are  discussed. 

"  It  is  well  for  you  who  are  conquered,"  says  the 
world,  "to  grumble  about  everything;  but  whipped 
you  are." 

So  be  it.  Might  is  right  —  is  it  not  ?  Is  there  any 
other  theory  of  government  existing  to-day  on  North 
Ajnerican  soil  ? 

So  that  "  Valley  of  Humiliation,"  as  the  North  had 
long  called  the  Shenandoah  region,  was  suddenly 
changed  into  a  parterre  of  roses  and  laurels.  Early 
was  retreating  —  Sheridan  was  pursuing. 

Three  days  after  the  Opequon  fight,  the  second  act 
of  the  bustling  drama  was  played  at  Fisher's  IK1, 
above  Strasburg. 

It  would  be  a  misuse  of  terms  to  call  this  a  battle 
It  was  the  attack  of  a  victorious  enemy  upon  a  hand 
ful,  retreating  after  defeat. 

A  few  words  will  convey  an  accurate  idea  of  the 
affair. 

Pushing  rapidly  on,  after  the  battle  of  the  Opequon, 
Sheridan  came  up  with  Early  on  the  morning  of  Sep 
tember  22,  at  Fisher's  Hill,  near  Strasburg.  This  is  a 
lofty  hill,  stretching  across  the  valley,  from  the  left 
bank  of  the  Shenandoah  to  the  North  Mountain,  and 
affords  an  excellent  position  for  a  force  sufficient  to 
reach  from  mountain  to  mountain. 

Unfortunately  Early  had  only  about  four  thousand 
bayonets  —  a  number  painfully  unequal  to  the  emer 
gency.  The  heavy  blow  on  the  Opequon  had  greatly 
disorganized  him;  hundreds  of  his  troops  were  scat- 


276  MASLYB  BATTL&& 

tered ;  when  he  drew  up  Ids  men  on  Fisher's  Hill,  tbe 
best  informed  officers  declare  that  his  force  wa* 
scarcely  four  thousand  bayonets.  As  to  his  cavalry,  a 
large  portion  was  detached  to  defend  the  Luray  Vul 
ley;  it  is  doubtful  if  the  Southern  force  reached  five 
thousand  effective. 

Gen.  Sheridan's  must  have  touched  upon  thirty  thou 
sand,  allowing  him  ten  thousand  lost  at  the  Opequon 
The  attack  followed. 

We  have  said  that  the  affair  could  scarcely  be  called 
a  battle.  Early  had  no  sort  of  intention  of  lighting 
there.  He  had  decided  to  retreat  again  as  soon  as 
night  came,  for  a  powerful  Federal  force  was  pushing 
up  the  Luray  Valley  to  cut  off  his  retreat.  The  men 
knew  that ;  and  it  was  this  which  made  the  affair  so 
disastrous. 

Sheridan  repeated  his  movement  of  the  19th.  Turn 
ing  Early's  left,  by  the  Brock  Road,  with  cavalry,  he 
followed  up  the  blow  with  a  powerful  infantry  force  ; 
swept  down  the  works,  and  assaulting  in  front,  while 
the  Confederates  were  thus  looking  to  their  flank,  car 
ried  the  whole  position.  Early  was  driven  in  disorder 
from  the  ground,  and  retreated  up  the  valley,  pursued 
by  his  opponent. 

Sheridan  pushed  on  to  Staunton,  forcing  Early  to 
take  refuge  in  the  Blue  Ridge,  with  the  remnant  of 
his  army ;  and  then  commenced  that  work  of  wanton 
destruction  which  has  made  kis  name  more  bitterly 
execrated  by  the  inhabitants  than  even  the  name  of 
Hunter. 

Before  the  torches  in  the  hands  of  his  troops,  houses, 
bams,  milk,  farming  implements,  all  disappeared  in 


BATTLM&  177 

ftanas  Women  and  children  wer3  seen  flying  i)  th* 
light  of  burning  dwellings ;  corn,  wheat,  and  forage — 
the  only  supplies  left  the  inhabitants — were  seized  or 
:"ertroyed ;  the  very  ploughs  and  rakes  were  brckec 
up,  and  rendered  useless.  From  the  women,  gray- 
beards,  and  children,  threatened  with  starvatiop,  went 
tip  a  cry  to  God  for  vengeance  on  the  author  of  this 
enormity. 

"  I  have  destroyed,"  said  Gen.  Sheridan,  in  his  official 
report,  "two  thousand  barns  filled  with  wheat  and  hay, 
and  farming  implements;  over  seventy  mills  filled 
with  flour  and  wheat;  have  driven  in  front  of  the 
army  over  four  thousand  head  of  stock;  and  have 
killed  and  issued  to  the  troops  not  less  than  three  thou 
sand  sheep.  This  destruction  embraces  the  Luray  Val 
ley,  and  the  Little  Fort  Valley,  as  well  as  the  main 
valley." 

By  whose  orders  was  that  done  ?    Answer,  history 

Gen.  Sheridan,  having  thus  laid  waste  the  whole  val 
ley,  fell  back  to  Strasburg,  and  here,  for  the  moment, 
the  campaign  ended. 

It  was  not,  however,  to  terminate  for  the  year.  There 
was  this  enormous  difference  between  the  year  1864 
and  those  which  had  preceded  it,  that  whereas,  in  the 
former  years,  McClellan,  Pope,  Burnside,  and  Hooker 
had  fought  pitched  battles  and  then  rested,  in  this  year, 
1864,  Grant  never  rested,  never  went  into  camp,  never 
ceased  hammering.  The  old  plan  had  been  tried  and 
had  failed.  Pitched  battles,  once  cr  twice  a  year,  ac 
complished  nothing.  The  Confederate  armies  must  be 
fought  every  day ;  kept  eternaVy  under  arms ;  deprived 
*f  their  very  Bleep  at  night 


378  MARLY  S  BATTLB8. 

See  how  the  great  drama  at  Petersburg  ^aa  played 
No  rest  day  or  night.  Artillery  roaring,  musketry 
rattling,  mortar-shell  bursting.  At  midnight,  at  twc; 
or  three  in  the  morning,  when  sleet  was  rattling,  snow 
falling,  amid  rain,  storm,  darkness,  as  in  the  sunshine, 
was  heard  the  crash  of  sharp-shooters  and  the  thunders 
of  guns.  "Attention!"  was  the  programme,  and  it  wag 
the  right  one.  Grant's  highest  praise  as  a  soldier  is 
that  he  saw  this. 

So  in  the  valley  as  in  the  low-land,  fighting,  fighting, 
fighting,  was  to  be  the  order  of  the  day  Early  ac 
cepted  the  programme,  and  it  was  the  Confederate  com 
mander  who  now,  after  reorganizing  his  army,  advanced 
to  attack  his  adversary. 

On  the  19th  of  October,  Early  was  at  Cedar  Creek, 
near  Strasburg,  and  had  delivered  a  blow  under  which 
the  army  of  Sheridan  staggered. 

The  opponents  were  separated  by  the  waters  of  Cedar 
Creek,  and  the  enemy  seem  to  have  regarded  themselves 
as  secure  from  attack ;  but  this  very  security  afforded 
the  opportunity  of  striking  them  to  advantage. 

Gen.  Gordon,  with  two  or  three  officers,  ascended  the 
lofty  summit  of  the  Massinutton  mountain,  which  here 
dominates  the  valley,  commanding  a  view  of  the  whole 
country  for  twenty  miles  around,  and  from  this  eagle's 
eyrie,  the  party  saw  beneath  them  the  camps  of  the 
ei.emy ;  the  position  of  Sheridan's  army ;  the  road  by 
which  it  could  be  approached — the  whole  "situation." 
The  right  of  the  Federal  force  was  strongly  guarded, 
for  there  an  attack  from  Early  was  possible.  The  left 
was  resting  in  s*»curity,  for  the  steep  side  of  the  mruu 
Uun  here  seemed  to  render  all  %prr?ach  impossible. 


MA&LFB  BATTIM  tit 

At  the  foot  of  this  abrupt  precipice,  h  trover,  ran  a 
narrow  mountain  road,  winding  between  the  slanting 
rock  and  the  river ;  by  this  road,  Gordon  saw  that  a 
column  could  be  thrown  against  the  Federal  left. 

lie  descended  aiid  reported  to  Gen.  Early;  the 
•noveir-int  was  resolved  upon;  and  under  cover  of 
darkness  the  men  were  moved  silently  by  the  narrow 
road,  to  the  attack,  which  took  place  at  dawn. 

It  was  sudden,  fierce,  and  completely  successful. 

Before  the  rush  of  the  Confederates,  the  whole  left 
wing  of  the  Federal  army  fled  in  wild  confusion  ;  the 
men  dashed  in  among  the  tents ;  a  few  volleys  only 
saluted  them  ;  the  day  seemed  won  in  an  instant. 

Then  Early,  with  the  rest  of  his  troops,  crossed  Cedar 
Creek  in  the  enemy's  front;  pushed  on  to  the  field; 
and  before  the  force  thus  concentrated,  and  attacking 
in  .front  and  flank,  the  whole  army  of  Sheridan  gave 
way. 

Victory  was  in  Early's  grasp.  The  Federal  lines 
were  driven.  Their  artillery  was  all  captured,  or  had 
rushed  to  the  rear  in  hopeless,  paralyzed  disorder.  The 
infantry  was  stampeded  —  the  cavalry  was  galloping 
from  the  field. 

Such  was  the  spectacle  which  greeted  the  eyes  of  the 
Confederates,  at  Cedar  Creek,  on  the  morning  of  Octo 
ber  19,  1864. 

Unfortunately,  another  spectacle  also  saluted  them 
—  the  rich  spoils  of  the  camp — and  these  unwonted 
luxuries  of  every  description  they  paused  to  seize  upon. 
Instead  of  pursuing  the  enemy,  falling  back  now  in 
utter  confusion,  the  men  were  eating,  drinking,  and 


280  UASLTB  &ATTLX& 

bu§y,  everywhere,  in  ransacking  the  tents,  where  th« 
flying  Federals  had  left  everything.* 

That  conduct  was  unsoldierly,  you  may  say,  reader. 
Let  us  not  attempt  to  defend  it,  but  let  us  also  note  one 
thing — that  this  army  needed  blankets,  shoes,  clothee, 
every  species  of  "  quartermasters'  stores."  It  is  easy  t/i 
recline  on  a  velvet  chair,  with  the  feet  upon  the  fender, 
in  the  midst  of  every  comfort,  and  to  say,  "  disgraco- 
ful  I  incredible  1 "  But,  believe  me,  it  it  hard  to  shiver 
at  night  for  want  of  a  blanket — to  leave,  with  naked 
feet,  bloody  marks  upon  a  turnpike — to  be  cold,  hun 
gry,  in  rags — and  not  clutch  at  shoes,  blankets  and  food, 
Those  men  were  brave  —  none  were  braver ;  but  hu 
man  nature  is  human  nature,  after  all. 

Then  came  the  punishment.  The  delay  caused  by 
this  disorder  among  the  men,  gave  the  enemy  time  to 
reform  their  lines  and  come  into  position.  This  they 
speedily  did,  under  the  direction  of  Gen.  Wright,  com 
manding  the  Sixth  Corps ;  for  Sheridan  was  at  Win 
chester.  Before  Early  could  press  forward,  the  Fed 
era!  forces  were  not  only  ready  to  resist  his  further  ad 
vance,  but  were  prepared  to  attack  him  in  their  turn. 

That  attack  quickly  came.  It  is  said  to  have  been 
the  result  of  the  presence  of  Gen.  Sheridan,  who  came 
at  full  gallop  from  Winchester,  "  on  a  steed  shod  with 
fire,"  —  and  with  hurrahs,  oaths,  and  the  elan  of  his 
bearing,  bro  tight  the  troops  up  to  the  mark.  There 
seems,  however,  to  be  some  ambiguity  upon  this  pom4, 

*  It  is  proper  to  say  here,  however,  that  many  officers  of  high  char 
acter,  pentiBbently  declare  that  the  troops  were  ordered  to  halt,  by 
Gen.  Early.  The  writer  was  not  present  and  adopts  &e  account 
gwneraUy  aorvspted. 

M* 


BATTLB& 


if  we  go  behind  the  bulletins  sent  to  Washington,  and 
thence  to  the  newspapers. 

"The  dramatic  incidents  attending  the  arrival  of 
Sheridan,"  says  a  Northern  writer,  Mr.  Swinton,  a 
great  admirer  of  Sheridan,  "  have  perhaps  caused  Gen, 
Wright  to  receive  less  credit  than  he  really  deserves 
The  disaster  was  over  by  the  time  Sheridan  arrived, 
A  compact  line  of  battle  was  formed,  and  Wright  was 
on  the  point  of  opening  the  offensive." 

Between  Generals  Wright  and  Sheridan  we  do  not 
undertake  to  decide.  The  question  is  one  of  little 
interest.  What  followed  was  the  defeat  of  Early  in  the 
moment  of  victory. 

In  the  midst  of  their  great  triumph,  when  they 
looked  upon  the  Federal  army  as  completely  disorgan 
ized,  the  Confederates  suddenly  saw  that  army  ad 
vance  upon  them  in  serried  ranks.  Artillery  thun 
dered,  musketry  crashed;  heavy  masses  of  cavalry, 
with  drawn  sabres,  rushed  forward  on  the  flanks,  and 
before  this  determined  attack  the  disorganized  infantry 
of  Early  gave  back. 

Then  was  presented  a  spectacle  which  is  said  to  have 
been  ludicrous,  incredible,  and  without  a  parallel 
The  men  did  not  run.  There  was  little  of  what  la 
called  disorder,  —  of  hurry,  confusion  or  demoralization. 
The  men  merely  looked  at  the  enemy,  seemed  to  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  would  not  fight  any  more 
that  day  and  simply  lounged  away  from  the  field.  No 
other  w^rd  describes  it.  At  a  slow  walk,  and  care 
less,  apparently,  of  shot  and  shell,  the  troops  abanda  led 
their  victory,  and  recrossed  Cedar  Creek. 

Early  had  lost,  in  an  hour,  the  whole  Units  of  hia 


SARLY'8  BATTLB& 


victory.  The  da/  whose  dawn  had  seen  hi™  pt.elfmg 
forward  ujxm  the  track  of  a  routed  enemy,  saw  him 
retreating,  before  it  closed,  with  that  enemy  pushing 
him. 

There  were  strange  scenes  in  the  late  war  —  there 
were  none  stranger  than  that  at  Cedar  Creek.  In  one 
day  the  Valley  was  won  and  lost. 

Thereafter  there  was  to  be  no  more  serious  fighting. 
Autumn  waned  away;  the  bright  October  woods  as 
sumed  the  russet-brown  of  November;  winter  came, 
and  the  campaign  of  the  Valley  was  over. 

Lee's  great  diversion  to  relieve  his  lines  at  Peters 
burg  from  the  pressure  on  them,  by  threatening 
Washington,  had  succeeded  and  it  had  not  succeeded. 
He  was  relieved  in  some  measure,  for  an  army  of 
thirty  or  forty  thousand  men  was  kept  by  the  enemy 
in  the  Valley  ;  but  the  relief  only  lengthened  out  the 
long  agony  which  now  approached  its  end. 

The  Confederacy  was  tottering.  No  reinf  orcementa 
were  sent  forward  by  the  country  to  supply  the  losses 
which  Grant's  eternal  hammering,  day  and  night,  in 
flicted  upon  Lee.  All  hearts  desponded;  all  brows 
were  overshadowed.  If  there  existed,  as  there  seemed 
to  exist,  a  superstitious  confidence  in  Lee  and  his  poor. 
gaunt  skeleton  of  an  army,  that  was  a  conviction  un 
supported  by  reason  —  to  expect,  much  longer,  anything 
from  that  handful,  was  hoping  against  hope. 

S'  dawned  the  dark  year  1865,  and  those  who  were 
beliind  the  ecenes  knew  that  the  end  was  near.  Sher 
had  crossed  Georgia,  and  was  hastening  north- 
through  the  Carolina**,  to  form  a  junction  with 
Grant,  or  cut  off  Lee's  retreat  Johnston  was  falling 


RABLY'8  BATTLB&  283 

back  before  him.  In  the  first  days  of  spiing,  :t  was 
plain  that  the  Federal  poniard  was  at  the  Confederate 
throat 

Then  in  February  of  this  last  year  of  the  struggle. 
Sheridan  again  grappled  with  Early  —  if  the  fall  of  a 
bludgeon  upon  an  egg-shell  can  be  so  described.  Thti 
force,  small  as  it  was,  with  which  Early  had  operated, 
was  imperatively  needed  in  the  thin  lines  around 
Petersburg,  and  had  been  called  thither.  In  the  Val 
ley  now,  around  Staunton,  was  left  only  a  small  body 
of  about  one  thousand  infantry, — without  calvary  or 
artillery,  —  to  merely  keep  up  the  show  of  resistance. 

In  February,  this  handful  was  attacked  by  ten  thou 
sand  cavalry  under  Gen.  Sheridan,  at  Waynesboro, 
Dispirited,  hopeless,  oppressed  by  the  public  gloom, 
half-naked,  one-fourth  fed,  and  taken  by  surprise,  this 
little  force  broke  in  disorder  before  the  charge  of 
Sheridan's  excellent  cavalry,  scattered  into  the  moun 
tains,  and  disappeared  from  all  eyes.  Early  himself 
narrowly  escaped  capture.  Sheridan  pushed  beyond 
the  Ridge — the  game  in  the  Valley  was  played. 

Then,  almost  unresisted,  Sheridan  crossed  the  Low 
land,  joined  Grant  with  his  horsemen,  who  had  ran 
sacked  the  whole  country  and  seized  on  the  best  ani 
mals  everywhere — and  it  was  on  the  backs  of  Virgi 
nia  horses  that  his  men  pursued  Lee  in  his  retreat. 


In  the  last  sketch  of  this  series  we  shall  finish  the 
picture  which  we  have  attempted  to  make  of  the  great 
struggle  between  Grant  and  Lee. 

We  have  seen  the  Confederate  Commander  breasting 
everywhere,  throughout  the  stormy  year  1864,  the  huge 


984  OARLY'8  BATTLJK 

blows  of  his  adversary  —  have  seen  with  what  heroic 
obstinacy  the  little  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  sus 
tained  the  impact  of  the  gigantic  hammer,  striking  at 
them  day  and  night.  They  stood  erect,  and  met  its 
heavy  blows  still,  but  all  saw  that  the  end  was  near. 

We  have  chronicled  many  victories.  We  now  ap 
proach  the  moment  of  decisive  defeat — almost  of  an 
nihilation.  But  that  did  not  fright  the  old  soldiers  of 
Lee.  They  stood  by  their  flag;  surrendered  only 
when  their  great  commander  gave  the  order ;  and,  to 
day,  that  thought  takes  away  the  "  bitterness  of  death," 
•— diafranchisement,  and  the  bayonet. 


TJL 

LEE'S  KJCTKRAT  AJTD  BUBKKHDKB. 

Lf  the  month  of  March,  1865,  Lee  —  that  is  to  say, 
the  Southern  Confederacy — was  at  bay,  circled  by 
enemies. 

The  gigantic  drama  which  for  nearly  fonr  years  had 
unfolded  its  bloody  scenes  on  the  soil  of  Virginia,  ap 
proached  the  catastrophe.  Four  acts  had  been  played 
by  such  actors  as  the  earth  has  rarely  seen ;  those  acts 
had  been  full  of  hurrying  events,  fierce  passions,  terri 
ble  shocks ;  the  world,  that  grand  audience,  had 
looked  on  with  absorbing  emotion ;  and  now,  at  last, 
the  curtain  was  to  fall,  the  actors  were  to  disappear, 
the  lights  were  to  be  extinguished,  and  the  audience 
were  to  draw  a  long  breath  of  relief. 

There  was  cause  for  that  emotion.  In  April,  1865, 
one  of  the  most  illustrious  banners  of  all  history  was 
furled ;  and  at  the  foot  of  a  record  blazing  all  over 
with  glory,  was  written  the  sombre  word,  "Surren 
der." 

Of  this  great  Act  V.,  only  a  sketch  is  here  at 
tempted.  But  that  sketch  will  be  accurate.  The 
writer  did  not  gain  hifl  information  of  the  events  de- 
from  books,  but  saw  them.  They  passed  be- 

CHS) 


286  LBB'8  RETREAT  AND  BVRRENDBX. 

fore  his  eyes,  and  burnt  themselves  forever  into  hia 
memory. 

In  February,  1865,  the  roads  were  drying,  and  Gen 
Grant's  heart  must  have  thrilled  at  the  thought,  "  At 
last  tie  end  is  near." 

There  was  no  doubt  of  that  fact.  The  South  was 
tired  of  the  war;  the  Executive  was  unpopular;  the 
heads  of  departments  were  worse;  the  Confederate 
money  was  mere  paper;  there  was  a  quarter  of  a 
pound  of  decayed  meat  for  the  army ;  and  that  army 
— the  sole  bulwark  of  the  cause  —  numbered  less  thar 
forty  thousand  men,  while  Grant's  numbered  about 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand. 

Now,  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  men,  against 
forty  thousand  —  a  large  estimate  of  the  Confederate 
"  effective  "  —  is  an  ugly  thing  in  open  field.  It  is 
even  worse  when  the  forty  thousand  have  forty  or 
fifty  miles  of  earthworks  to  guard  —  as  at  Petersburg. 
The  day  when  Grant  anywhere  broke  through  that 
thin  and  tremulous  obstacle,  Lee  was  lost. 

The  "country" — that  dull  critic  of  military  things 

—  had,  however,  a  different  opinion.    They  scouted  the 
idea.    Lee  was  a  Titan  of  so  great  bulk  that  nothing 
could  overwhelm  him.     The  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  was  unconquerable.     Everything  was  going  well. 
Grant  could  do  nothing.     He  might  stretch  his  lines 
from  the  Jerusalem  Plank  Road  to  the  Weldon  Kail- 
road —  from  the  Weldon   Railroad  to  the   Squirrel 
Level  Road — from  the  Squirrel  Level  Road  to  Hatch 
M'B  Run  —  from  Hatcher's  Run  to  the  Quaker  Road 

—  from  the  Quaker  Ro&d  to  the  Boydton  and  White 
Oak  Roads —  to  Five  Forks  —  to  the  Southside  Bail 


LBS'S  ESTREAT  AND  SURRENDER  287 

road  —  to  the  crack  of  doom.     It  was  nothing.    Waa 
not  Lee  there  with  his  great  and  invincible  army  —  of 

forty  thousand  men  ? 

Gen.  Lee  took  a  different  view  of  things.  There 
never  beat  in  human  breast  a  braver  soul  —  a  truer 
Lcart  of  oak  —  than  in  the  great  Virginian's.  But  to 
that  trained  military  brain,  one  thing  was  obvious  — 
that  when  Gen.  Grant  received  his  expected  rein- 
f orcements  from  Sherman,  the  lines  around  Petersburg 
would  be  torn  asunder,  and  his  army  captured  or  de 
stroyed. 

"  At  this  time,"  says  Gen.  Grant,  "  the  greatest 
source  of  uneasiness  to  me  was  the  fear  that  the 
enemy  would  leave  his  strong  lines  around  Petersburg 
and  Richmond  before  he  was  driven  from  them  by 
battle,  or  I  was  prepared  to  make  an  effectual  pur 
suit." 

Lee  and  his  officers  understood  perfectly  the  design 
of  their  great  adversary.  The  Generals  of  the  South 
ern  army  looked  at  the  situation  with  grim  horror,  and 
jested  about  it. 

"  If  Grant  once  breaks  through  our  lines,"  said  one 
of  them,  "  we  might  as  well  go  back  to  Father  Abra 
ham,  and  say,  '  Father,  we  have  sinned ! ' ' 

Such  was  the  situation  in  the  last  days  of  February, 
1865,  at  Petersburg ;  Lee's  arrny  of  about  thirty-nine 
thousand  men,  gaunt  aud  starving,  in  the  trenches ;  no 
reinforcements  arriving ;  Grant  fighting  day  and 
night,  while  awaiting  his  great  accessions  of  strength 
from  Sherman ;  the  Southern  force  dwindling,  tho 
Northern  force  growing  larger;  the  Corfederacy  pros 
trate,  silent,  laboring  under  a  eort  of  8tu]K>r  —  the 


388  LXH'8  RETREAT  AND  SURRENDER. 

North  joyous,  laughing,  preparing  to  shout  "Hasan 
nahl" 

It  was  plain  to  all  who  saw  clearly,  that  unless  Lee 
extricated  his  army  from  that  man-trap,  he  was  lost 
And  he  made  the  attempt. 

The  fact  is  not  in  print,  but  it  is  a  fact  that,  befen 
the  end  of  February,  Gen.  Lee  gave  orders  for  the 
evacuation  of  his  lines  around  Petersburg,  and,  conse 
quently,  of  Virginia.  At  the  word,  his  heavy  stores 
began  to  move ;  his  artillery  and  ammunition  were 
Bent  to  Amelia  Court  House,  on  the  straight  line  of 
retreat  to  North  Carolina  —  and  then,  one  morning, 
Gen.  Lee  went  up  to  Richmond. 

When  he  returned  to  the  army,  the  movement  was 
arrested.  From  that  moment,  the  Confederacy  was 
dead. 

The  great  soldier,  commanding  its  greatest  army, 
must  have  shuddered  then  at  the  prospect  before  him 
That  he  did  not  lose  heart,  only  proves  that  his  was 
truly  an  obstinate  soul  —  a  fibre  which  no  weight  of 
care,  no  pressure  of  discouragement  could  shake. 

Honour  is  due  to  the  stubborn  persistence  of  Grant, 
but  greater  honour  to  the  unshrinking  nerve  of  Lee. 

The  problem  was  now  reduced  to  a  frightful  sim 
plicity.  Could  Gen.  Grant  attain  the  Southside  Rail 
road,  on  Lee's  right  ?  If  so,  Lee  was  lost.  Figure  it 
out  as  they  might  at  Richmond  ;  talk  as  they  might 
about  the  possibility  of  holding  Virginia ;  the  bad  pol 
icy  of  abandoning  it  —  with  Grant  at  Five  Forks>  the 
game  was  ended. 

Everything  advanced  now.  The  winds  of  March 
dried  the  roads — Grant's  gigantic  war  engine  began  to 


LSET8  RETREAT  AND  SDTtRENDER. 


move.  That  commander  was  still,  however,  haunted 
by  his  old  fear. 

While  the  outside  world  was  blundering  on,  as  to  the 
pituation,  the  two  great  chess-players  were  bending  over 
the  board  ;  and  it  was  the  brow  of  the  Northern  soldiei 
that  was  the  most  deeply  corrugated. 

"  I  had  spent  days  of  anxiety,"  writes  Gen.  Grant, 
"  lest  each  morning  should  bring  the  report  that  the 
enemy  had  retreated  the  night  before." 

And  that  anxiety  was  natural.  Grant  was  a  good 
soldier  ;  knew  that  Lee  ought  to  retreat  ;  and  Lee,  too, 
knew  that  he  ought  to.  "Why  did  he  not  ? 

Answer,  "Department  of  Rebel  Archives,"  in  the 
city  of  Washington. 

A  month  had  passed  since  that  attempt  to  evacuate 
Petersburg,  and  Gen.  Lee  was  still  there.  Those  who 
saw  him  then  will  remember  that  his  expression  and 
whole  bearing  were  of  supreme  repose.  Never  had 
his  smile  been  sweeter,  his  eye  more  limpid  and  un 
clouded. 

The  March  winds  blew,  the  roads  grew  firm,  the 
moment  had  come,  and  Gen.  Grant  fixed  upon  the  last 
day  of  the  month  for  a  great  assault  upon  Lee's  right, 
with  the  view  of  seizing  the  Southside  Railroad. 

One  would  have  said  that  his  adversary  saw  the 
shadow  of  the  gigantic  arm  raised  to  strike.  Before 
the  hammer  fell,  the  world  was  to  witness  the  last 
great  offensive  movement  of  Lee  —  the  final  lunge  of 
the  keen  rapier  which  had  so  often  drunk  blood. 

To  relieve  his  right  from  the  enormous  pressure  there 
—  to  open  his  line  of  retreat  for  a  junction  with  Jolin- 
rtOD,  and  to  end  at  one  blow  the  elaborate  programme 


$90  LW8  RETREAT  AND  SURRENDER 

of  his  opponent  —  Lee,  on  March  25th,  had  recourse  t« 
a  j  reject  of  unsurpassing  boldness.  This  was  to  attack 
his  adversary's  centre,  at  Hare's  Hill,  near  Petersburg 
?ut  the  Federal  line,  root  his  whole  army  then  bet  vvoer 
ihe  Federal  wings,  and  either  force  G  rant  to  ^etire  Ida 
irhole  left  wing,  or  march  upon  and  destroy  it. 

There  was  so  much  genius  and  audacity  in  this  cou- 
jeption,  that  it  ought  to  have  succeeded.  It  did  nearly 
succeed.  Here  are  the  facts  briefly  narrated : 

Fort  Steadman,  the  point  selected  for  assault,  was  a 
powerful  Federal  work  opposite  Petersburg,  defended 
in  front  by  abattis,  and  every  species  of  obstacle,  and 
flanked  by  other  forts  commanding  it. 

The  Federal  and  Confederate  lines  were  at  this  point 
less  than  two  hundred  yards  distant  from  each  other 
and  each  was  eternally  on  the  watch. 

Surprise  seemed  impossible,  —  attack  hopeless.  In 
the  night,  toward  morning  of  March  25th,  Lee  surprised 
and  attacked. 

The  btorming  column  was  three  or  four  thousand 
men,  under  Gordon  —  that  brave  of  braves  —  the  man 
who  never  failed  to  do  the  utmost  that  could  be  done, 

—  who  electrified  the  soldiers  that  fought  under  him, 
and  whose  name  will  electrify  history.     Gordon  went 
through  the  abattis  in  the  dark  March  morning,  over 
the  Federal  breastworks,  driving  before  him,  or  captur 
ing  the  Federal  infantry  there — seized  Fort  Steadman 

—  was  at  dt»wn  rooted  immovably  in  the  centre  of 
Grant's  line. 

The  last  great  blow  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia 
had  been  struck.  Gordon's  sword-point  was  at  the 


LEV 8  RETREAT  AJiD  SURRENDER,  2$1 

throat  of  Grant  —  an  hour  afterwards  his  whole  com 
mand  was  dead,  or  captured,  or  retreating. 

A  few  words  will  explain  that.  He  was  not  sup 
ported  by  the  troops  which  Gen.  Lee  had  ordered  to 
follow  him — the  Federal  forts,  right  and  left,  opened 
a  terrible  fire  upon  him ;  he  was  ringed  round  with 
artillery,  crushed  by  heavy  masses  of  infantry  —  scarce 
was  there  tune  for  the  remnant  of  his  little  force  to 
save  themselves. 

The  great  blow  had  completely  failed  —  nearly  two 
thousand  men  were  dead  or  prisoners  —  the  last  hope 
of  successful  retreat  to  North  Carolina  was  lost. 

What  was  foreseen  by  Lee  speedily  followed.  Grant 
threw  his  whole  force,  now  amounting  to  one  hundred 
and  sixty  thousand  men,  against  Lee's  entire  front  — 
making  his  heaviest  attack  on  the  Confederate  right. 

The  trumpets  had  thus  sounded ;  the  knights,  with 
lance  in  rest,  had  rushed  together,  and  the  soil  trem 
bled.  The  days  thundered,  and  the  nights  were  like 
the  days.  From  the  White  Oak  Road,  west  of  Peters 
burg,  to  the  Williamsburg  Road,  east  of  Richmond 
cannon  glared  and  roared,  musketry  rattled,  inortai 
shell  rose,  described  their  fiery  curves,  like  flocks  of 
flame-birds,  burst,  and  rained  their  iron  fragments  in 
the  trenches.  The  cannoneer,  sighting  his  gun,  fell 
pierced  by  bullets  entering  the  embrasure;  the  mus 
keteer,  who  sank  to  sleep  in  the  trenches  for  an  instant, 
was  torn  asunder  by  the  mortar  shells,  and  never  woke. 
At  midnight,  gaunt  and  dusky  figures,  moving  to  and 
fro  in  the  baleful  light,  plied  their  deadly  work,  never 
resting,  scarce  ever  eating  —  not  hoping,  but  fighting 
•till 


LEE'S  SBTBBAT  AND  8UERENDEH 

Those  who  remember  those  days  do  not  dwell  with 
serene  pleasure  on  the  souvenir.  A  lurid  glare  seems 
ever  to  hover  over  those  scenes  of  nightmare,  when  two 
armies  were  in  the  death-wrestle. 

Let  others  chronicle  the  events  of  those  days  of  de- 
cisive  struggle  —  the  present  writer  has  neither  space 
nor  inclination.  Bloodshed  is  repulsive ;  an  army  of 
supremely  glorious  history  undergoing  the  ceremony 
of  annihilation  is  not  a  cheerful  spectacle. 

Lee  fought  to  the  end.  The  soul  of  the  Confederate 
commander  seemed  only  to  grow  more  resolute  and 
unconquerable,  as  he  felt  upon  his  breast  the  pressure, 
ever  heavier  and  more  deadly,  of  the  Federal  anaconda, 
wrapping  its  huge  folds  around  him. 

History  nowhere  exhibits  a  more  obstinate  combat- 
iveness,  a  more  inexorable  will,  a  more  trained  and 
daring  courage  than  that  of  Lee  in  the  fights  around 
Five  Forks. 

When  his  right  was  cut,  repulsed,  crushed  there — 
when  Warren  and  Sheridan  had  gained  a  victory  there, 
resembling  in  every  particular  —  in  relative  numbers 
more  especially  —  the  victory  of  the  latter  over  Early 
at  the  Opequon — when  the  whole  Confederate  right 
wing  was  completely  torn  to  pieces,  and  the  rest  of  the 
little  army  driven  back  into  Petersburg — then,  when 
all  was  lost,  when  every  heart  despaired,  when  ever? 
brow  was  overshadowed,  Lee  was  still  as  cool  as  on  the 
days  of  Fredericksburg  or  Chancellorsville ;  in  his  eyes 
was  the  same  clear  light ;  his  voice  was  as  grave,  meas 
ured,  and  courteous  as  before. 

This  soldier  was  grand  and  imposing  on  the  days  oi 


1JK&8  RETREAT  ASE  SURRENDER.  293 

hia  great  battles.  On  the  2d  of  April,  1865,  he  was 
sublime. 

On  that  morning  the  long  agony  was  decided.  The 
right  wing  of  the  Confederate  army  was  captured  01 
dispersed.  Grant  had  broken  through  in  front  of  i'e 
tereburg.  A.  P.  Hill  was  dead,  and  hie  little  handful, 
called  a  corps  in  a  spirit  of  bitter  humor  only,  scattered. 
The  Federal  army  was  pouring  in  one  huge  mass  upon 
the  few  thousands  of  men  still  in  line  of  battle. 

On  the  green  slope  of  his  headquarters,  a  mile  or  two 
west  of  the  city,  Gen.  Lee  was  looking  through  his 
glasses  at  the  Federal  column  pushing  on  to  charge  hit. 
inner  breastworks.  On  the  left  of  Petersburg  Gordon 
was  thundering,  —  fighting,  with  his  mere  skirmish 
tine,  the  triple  Federal  order  of  battle.  Longstreet 
was  coming  in  with  his  skeleton  regiments  from  the 
James.  The  tragedy  touched  its  last  scenes. 

When  the  bullets  of  the  Federal  infantry  began  to 
whistle  round  him,  and  their  shot  and  shell  to  tear  up 
the  ground,  Gen.  Lee  slowly  mounted  his  iron  gray, 
and  rode  toward  his  line. 

"This  is  a  bad  business,  Colonel,"  he  said,  in  hie 
calm,  deep  voice,  wholly  untouched  by  emotion. 

As  he  spoke,  a  shell  burst  above  him,  and  killed  a 
horse  at  his  side ;  but  a  slight  movement  of  the  head 
and  a  latent  fire  in  the  eye  were  the  only  proof  that 
the  fact  had  attracted  his  attention.  Meanwhile  his 
ragged  infantry — scattered,  a  mere  skirmish  line  along 
the  low  inner  works — were  laughing,  greeted  him  OH 
be  approached,  with  cheers,  and  exclaimed,  with  tho 
mirthful  accent  of  schx>lboys, — 

"Let  'em  come  on !    We'll  give  'em  h — 1 1 n 


294  LJOPB  ROTES*  T  AND  SURRENDER. 

That  expression  was  not  classic,  reader,  and  it  may 
i>ffend  jour  idea  of  decorum.  But  admit  that  il  waa 
;  game."  The  men  of  that  brigade  were  laughing  in 
face  of  triple  lines  of  Federal  infantry,  advancing  to 
destroy  them. 

At  night  Gen.  Lee  put  his  army  in  motion  —  crossed 
the  Appomattox — blew  up  his  magazines,  and  dawn 
saw  fifteen  thousand  unsLaken  veterans  steadily  march 
ing  up  the  north  bank  of  the  stream,  commanded  in 
person  by  Lee. 

They  were  out  of  the  trenches,  and  in  the  budding 
woods.  They  were  moving,  not  massing  —  going  to 
fight,  not  to  stand  a  siege  in  ditches  full  of  mud  and 
water — and  Lee,  on  his  gray  horse,  was  leading  them  i 
The  writer  of  this  page  sat  his  horse,  and  looked  cu 
riously  into  the  faces  of  the  troops  as  they  passed — 
not  a  face  was  gloomy  or  careworn — not  a  man  had 
lost  the  heart  of  hope. 

And  they  kept  that  heart  to  the  last.  They  starved, 
and  grew  faint,  and  fell  by  the  wayside,  on  that  terri 
ble  retreat ;  but  as  long  as  they  could  handle  a  musket, 
the  men  fought.  Ask  their  veteran  opponents  of  the 
old  Army  of  the  Potomac  if  they  did  not. 

A  freshet  in  the  Appomattox  swamping  the  bridges, 
delayed  the  crossing  of  the  army  to  the  south  side 
tgaic  It  was  not  until  Wednesday,  the  5th  of  April, 
that  Lee  had  concentrated  his  little  army  at  Amelia 
Court  House. 

Glance  now  at  the  tragic  situation  of  affairs.  Lee 
was  retreating,  or  trying  to  retreat  from  Virginia, 
Richmond  was  evacuated,  like  Petersburg.  The  officer! 
of  government — President,  secretaries,  all  —  had  hui- 


LB&8  ESTREAT  AND  SURRENDER  391 

lied  southward.  There  was  no  longer  any  Confed 
erate  Capitol;  or,  if  there  was  any,  it  was  at  Lee'i 
head-quarters.  What  remained  of  the  great  editice. 
tottering  to  its  fall,  was  held  aloft  upon  the  bayonets  cd 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

What  was  that  army  ?  Here  is  the  statement  of  one 
who  had  the  best  opportunity  of  knowing  the  exact 
truth.  Colonel  Walter  II.  Taylor,  A.  A.  G.  of  the 
army,  in  MS.  statement,  says,  — 

"Strength  at  Petersburg,  April  1, 1865: 

"Infantry  (effective) 37,000 

Around  Richmond  (locals) 2,000 

39,000 

u  This  I  believe  to  be  accurate. 

"  On  the  2d  of  April,  the  troops  were  much  scattered 
—  that  is,  separated  from  regular  commands.  Pickett 
had  been  sent  up  to  Five  Forks.  Anderson  had  been 
•ent  up  Southside  Road  with  three  brigades.  Om 
lines  had  been  cut  on  Hill's  front,  and  then  Heth  was 
cut  off;  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  say  what  force 
Gen.  Lee  took  with  him  when  Petersburg  was  evac 
uated,  but  I  think  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of 
fifteen  thousand  infantry.  He  was  afterwards  joined 
by  Heth  and  Anderson.  At  the  time  of  the  surrender, 
we  had  in  line  of  battle  about  eight  thousand  muskets. 
We  surrendered,  officers  and  men,  a  little  over  twenty- 
six  thousand,  including  all  departments  and  arms  of 
•ervice." 

Such  was  the  force  ~*  **ome  twenty  thousand  "  effect 
ive"  troops — with  which  Lee  faced  the  one  hundred 


LSE^B  RETREAT  AND  SURRENDER. 


and  filiy  thousand  men  of  Grant,  hurrying  forward  to 
Burksville  Junction,  on  the  Danville  Railroad,  to  cut 
off  and  destroy  him. 

To  this  point  had  all  things  come  on  April  5th.  And 
now  what  was  Lee's  design  ?  What  had  been  his  in 
tention  in  evacuating  Petersburg  ?  Was  he  out-genei- 
eraled,  checkmated  —  out-thought  as  out-fought  by 
Grant? 

A  few  words  will  answer  these  questions.  Lee  never 
had  the  least  intention  to  surrender  ;  let  that  be  stated 
first.  He  foresaw  the  almost  mortal  blow  at  Peters 
burg  ;  the  shadow  of  the  approaching  fate  ran  on  be 
fore,  and  he  prepared  for  the  ordeal.  The  first  great 
question  was  that  of  rations.  There  was  rarely  at 
Petersburg  as  much  as  three  days'  supply  of  bread  and 
meat  for  the  army  ;  now,  when  it  was  going  to  make  a 
rapid  retreat,  that  little  supply  would  fail.  Rations 
must  be  sent  from  the  South  to  meet  the  army  on  it* 
march.  The  order  was  given.  Amelia  Court  House 
was  the  point  to  which  the  supplies  were  ordered.  Lee 
would  march  thither,  provision  his  army  from  the 
railroad  trains  sent  up  from  North  Carolina,  destroy 
his  surplus  baggage,  mass  his  little  handful  of  tried 
veterans,  move  toward  Johnston,  and  cut  his  way 
through  any  force  in  his  path. 

This  was  his  plain  and  simple  programme.  To  jyo- 
vision  his  army  at  Amelia  Court  House,  attack  the 
scattered  Federal  forces,  not  yet  massed  across  his  line 
of  retreat,,  burst  through  them,  and,  forming  a  junction 
with  Jonhston,  retreat  into  the  heart  of  the  Gulf  States. 
The  rest  was  left  to  the  future.  If  the  war  could  be 
carried  on,  lie  would  carry  it  on.  If  rot,  he  would  be 


LXSJS  BBTBBAT  AND  8UBRE&D3R  297 

able  to  make  terms  of  peace,  and  surrender,  en  regie, 
at   the  head  of   his   army.     Better  that  than  to   be 
tracked  like  a  wild  beast,  torn  at  every  step,  and  die  — 
panting  bleeding,  starving  —  circled  by  enemies. 

Two  foes  reversed  this  entire  programme  —  man 
and  the  elements.  The  freshet  in  the  Appomattox  de 
layed  his  crossing  ontil  Tuesday,  April  4th.  Grant 
was  hurrying  by  the  straight  road  to  cut  him  off,  but 
there  was  still  time,  when  the  last,  the  fatal,  the  irresist 
ible  blow  fell.  Beaching  Amelia  Court  House,  with 
an  army,  staggering  and  starving  for  want  of  food, 
Lee  looked  around,  and  saw  not  a  trace  of  flour,  bacon 
or  corn  —  nothing.  The  trains  from  the  South,  loaded 
with  rations,  had  duly  arrived.  At  the  Court  House,  a 
telegram  from  Richmond  said,  "  Bring  on  the  trains." 
They  continued  their  way,  and  reached  Richmond ;  the 
rations  were  thrown  in  the  street ;  the  cars  were  loaded 
with  the  rubbish  of  the  department,  hurried  South 
ward,  and  when  the  army  of  Northern  Virginia  reached 
the  Court  House,  starving,  falling  by  the  way,  and 
perishing  from  exhaustion,  they  found  nothing. 

That  blow  was  terrible ;  those  who  reversed  Lee'a 
orders  assumed  a  frightful  responsibility.  It  is  only 
just  to  say  that  the  trains  only,  when  emptied,  are  said 
to  have  been  referred  to  in  the  telegram,  and  no  one 
acquainted  with  the  brave  and  resolute  Executive, 
Jefferson  Davis,  will  believe  him  capable  of  that  terri 
ble  fault.  Let  history  decide,  and  place  the  blame 
where  blame  is  due  —  we  narrate.  The  trains  passed 
through  the  Court  House  upon  Sunday,  April  2d ;  their 
contents  were  thrown  out  in  the  streets  of  Richmond; 


RETREAT  AND 


that  night  the  Bame  cars  were  hastening  southward 
and  when  Lee  arrived,  there  was  nothing.* 

Then  despair  must  have  knocked  at  the  doors  of  thai 
•tout  heart.  Those  who  saw  Gen.  Lee  at  this  moment 
will  not  soon  forget  his  expression.  The  hDpe  and 
defiant  courage  of  a  soul  which  nothing  could  bend 
had  not  deserted  him,  but  that  instant  was  enough  to 
test  the  fibre  of  the  strongest  heart. 

All  his  plans  were  thus  overthrown.  He  could  no 
longer  advance  ;  he  must  stop  to  collect  provisions  for 
his  men.  lie  could  no  longer  form  line  of  battle  and 
fight  ;  he  must  cut  up  his  army  into  foraging  parties  — 
half  going  out  into  the  country  to  collect  bread  and 
meat  for  the  other  half.  Starving  men  do  not  fight  — 
starving  horses  do  not  pull  artillery.  There  is  some- 
•Jiing  which  paralyzes  courage,  hope,  skill,  nerve,  hero 
ism  —  it  is  famine. 

From  all  these  circumstances,  thus  narrated  briefly, 
resulted  that  terrible  delay.  On  Wednesday,  April 
5th  —  that  is  to  say,  three  days  after  the  evacuation  of 
Petersburg  —  Lee  was  still  at  Amelia  Court  House. 
His  veterans  were  scattered  around  him,  in  the  fields  ; 
his  trains  halted  —  wagons,  artillery,  carriages,  and  cais 
sons  —  because  the  horses  could  no  longer  draw  them. 
Parties  were  penetrating  everywhere  to  the  houses,  ap 
pealing  to  the  inhabitants  with,  ';  Bread,  bread,  the 
army  is  starving!"  -and  all  this  time  Gen,  Grant 
hastening  f  orward  over  the  line  of  the  Southside 


*  We  have  a  detailed  statement  of  the  events  above  referred  to 
trom  an  officer  then  in  Richmond,  who  witnessed  alL  We  would 
present  that  statement  were  007  end  to  be  reached.  It  would  be 
The  facts  are  -*ot  denied. 


LEB'B  BETRSAT  AND  SURRENDER.  29ft 

Railroad  to  Burksville  Junction;  concentrating  .her* 
corps  after  corps  of  his  superbly  equipped  and  provis- 
ioned  army,  to  meet  the  little  handful  of  Lee,  when 
they  attempted  to  continue  their  retreat. 

One  course  only  was  left  to  Lee  —  to  change  his  line 
of  retreat,  and  make  for  the  Virginia  mountains.  If 
he  could  attain  Lynchburg,  he  was  out  of  the  enemy's 
clutch.  That  sole  hope  remained  to  him,  and  placing 
himself  at  the  head  of  his  veterans,  he  resolutely  be 
gan  his  march  toward  Farmville. 

From  that  moment  commenced  the  horrors  of  a  re 
treat  which  will  remain  forever  famous  in  history  — 
famous  for  the  baleful  tragedy  of  *be  subject,  but  more 
famous  still  for  the  neroic  nerve  of  the  little  army  of 
Southerners  who  marched  on,  fighting  day  and  night, 
and  starved  and  sunk  down,  and  died  without  a  mur 
mur. 

Who  can  paint  it?  What  man  of  the  South  has  the 
heart  to  describe  that  retreat  in  detail,  tracing  step  by 
step  the  great  tragedy  to  the  fall  of  the  curtain  ?  Not 
the  present  writer,  who  saw  it  all;  starved  with  his 
comrades ;  heard  the  bay  of  the  Federal  war-dogs  day 
and  night  on  the  track ;  and  now,  when  two  years  have 
passed,  recalls  with  sombre  emotions  that  bitter  fright 
ful,  hopeless  struggle  to  emerge  from  the  toils  in 
which  numbers  had  enveloped  the  little  fainting  hand 
ful —  fainting,  but  defiant  and  unconquered  to  the  last. 

Here  are  some  memoranda  only  of  the  retreat.  Lee 
had  just  begun  to  move  from  Amelia  Court  House, 
when  news  came  that  the  Federal  cavalry,  pushing 
ahead,  had  attacked  and  burned  his  ordnance  trains  at 
Paynes-ille.  Thus  even  his  small  numbers  were  to  tx 


800  LEE'S  RETREAT  AND 


paralyzed  —  the  army  must  be  disarmed  in  advance 
Lee  moved  on  steadily,  reached  the  vicinity  of  High 
Bridge  on  the  6th,  and  here  the  Federal  cavalry  and 
infantry  burst  into  the  trains  ;  tore  to  pieces  their  rear 
guard  under  Ewell  and  others  ;  captured,  destroyed,  or 
dispersed  the  whole  ;  and  pressed  forward  to  annihi 
late  the  remainder  of  the  army. 

This  was  just  at  nightfall,  and  the  woods  glared  ; 
the  sky  was  a  great  canopy  of  crimson  ;  artillery 
roared;  muskets  cracked;  the  Federal  forces  rushed 
on  to  finish  their  work,  when  in  their  path  they  saw  a 
hedge  of  bayonets,  flanked  by  cannon,  whose  grim 
mouths  seemed  to  say,  "  Come  on  1  "  In  fact,  Gen. 
Lee  had  hastened  with  a  handful  of  men  to  erect  this 
barrier  between  the  disordered  remnant  of  Ewell, 
Anderson  and  CustisLee  —  and  it  was  a  magnificent 
spectacle,  the  reception  of  the  old  cavalier  by  the  half- 
starved,  unarmed,  and  tumultuous  crowd,  who  seemed 
in  a  wild  rage  at  having  been  thus  driven  by  the 
enemy. 

With  hands  clenched  and  raised  aloft;  eyes  fiery 
and  menacing;  accents  hoarse,  defiant,  full  of  un 
shrinking  "  fight,"  the  ragged  infantry  rose  from  the 
ground  upon  which  they  had  thrown  themselves  around 
the  cannon,  exclaiming,  — 

"General  Lee  1" 

"It's  old  Uncle  Robert" 

"Where's  the  man  who  won't  follow  old  Uncle 
Robert*" 

Fancy  tliat  scene,  reader,  if  yon  can.  These  tatter 
demalions,  burning  with  rage  and  defiance;  with 
clenched,  eyes  like  coals  of  fire,  hoarse  and  »« 


LMM'8  ESTREAT  AND  SURRENDER  301 

trating  voices — faces  gaunt,  dirty,  emaciated  by  him 
ger,  but  showing,  by  the  close,  set  teeth  under  th« 
rough-bearded  lips,  that  the  nerve  of  the  bull-dog  was 
all  there  still  —  imagine  *his  scene,  lit  up  by  the  glaw 
of  the  burning  wagons,  by  the  horizon  all  flaming 
above  which  rose,  red  and  threatening,  the  Federal  sig 
nal  rockets,  and  in  the  midst  of  all,  on  his  iron  gray, 
the  old  cavalier,  Lee,  sitting  calm  and  collected,  with  a 
face  as  unmoved  as  on  some  peaceful  parade. 

Before  that  rock,  bristling  with  bayonets,  the  Federal 
wave  went  back.  Night  fell,  and  with  cannon  thun 
dering  upon  the  long  drawn  line  of  Federal  horsemen, 
ready  to  rush  forward  on  his  rear,  Lee  continued  his 
retreat,  crossing  the  river  at  Farmville,  and  making  for 
Lynchburg. 

Then  commenced,  on  the  7th  of  April,  1865,  the 
most  terrible  scenes  of  the  retreat.  Men  were  fight 
ing,  falling,  and  dying  all  around.  The  musket  was 
fired,  then  it  fell  from  the  nerveless  hand.  The  men 
charged,  drove  back  the  enemy,  swarming  upon  them, 
pursued  with  wild  yells,  triumphant  cheers  —  then  they 
staggered  and  fell.  All  along  the  immense  line  of 
trains  the  enemy  attacked ;  the  "  stragglers,"  as  they 
were  called  —  that  is,  the  men  who  could  not  carry 
musket  or  cartridge-box —  fought  them  with  sticks  and 
rocks.  The  horses  and  mules  were  fainting  from  ex 
haustion,  like  the  troops.  Wagons  mired,  and  tb« 
teams  could  not  move.  Cannon  sunk  in  mudholes,  and 
the  horses  fell  and  died  beside  them,  up  to  the  girth  in 
ooze.  The  teams  had  become  skeleton  animals,  with 
emaciated  limbs,  and  eyes  full  of  dumb  despair.  The 
most  cinel  blowi  scarcely  pushed  them  to  a  slow  walk. 


LEE'B  RETREAT  AND  SURRENDER. 


Corn  there  was  none,  or  if  a  little  was  discovered,  the 
starving  troops  clutched  it,  struggled  for  the  ears, 
crushed  the  grains  between  their  teeth  like  horses,  and 
swallowed  it  half  masticated.  Meanwhile,  to  the 
right,  to  the  left,  in  rear,  in  front,  the  enemy  thun 
dered  ;  and  the  muskets  of  the  Confederates  replied. 
Lee  was  fighting  still  —  meant  to  fight  to  the  end. 

Hope  had  not  even  then  deserted  that  breast,  cased 
in  "  triple  steel."  When,  on  the  8th,  Gen.  Pendleton 
was  deputed  by  the  corps  commanders  of  the  army  to 
inform  Gen.  Lee  that  surrender,  in  their  opinion,  was 
inevitable,  Lee  exclaimed,  with  flushed  cheeks  : 

"  Surrender  !  I  have  too  many  good  fighting  men 
for  that." 

On  the  morning  of  April  9th,  as  he  drew  near  Appo- 
rvattox  Court  House,  these  fighting  men  were  reduced 
to  less  than  eight  thousand,  and  the  enemy  had  struck 
a  last  blow.  Sheridan's  cavalry,  pushing,  on  had  cap 
tured  and  destroyed  a  train  of  supplies  sent  down  from 
Lynchburg,  and  Grant's  infantry  had  hurried  up,  and 
massed  in  front.  Then  Lee's  last  hope  was  gone,  and 
nothing  remained  for  him  but  to  surrender  the  army. 

Up  to  that  moment  he  had  resolutely  refused  to  do 
eo,  when  Grant  summoned  him.  On  the  7th,  and 
again  on  the  8th,  the  Federal  commander  had  written 
him  notes,  urging  the  hopeless  situation  of  his  army  ; 
but  as  late  as  the  evening  of  the  8th,  the  day  before 
the  surrender,  Lee  replied  : 

"  To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think  the  emergency  has 
arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender  of  this  army." 

A  Federal  writer  sees  in  that  reply  "  a  kind  of  grim 
humor  ;  '  and  in  truth  there  was  something  grim,  if 


LME'A  RETREAT  AND 


not  humorous,  in  such  an  answer  on  that  8th  of  April 
Gen.  Grant  was  "  up  " — on  Lee's  front,  rear,  right,  and 
left — with  about  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
men.  On  all  sides,  the  Confederates  were  enveloped  ; 
infantry,  cavalry,  and  artillery  ringed  them  round, 
through  every  opening  they  saw  the  swarming  Fed 
eral  horse,  the  glittering  Federal  bayonets ;  from  every 
knoll  grinned  the  muzzles  of  Federal  cannon. 

The  prey  was  hunted  down  ;  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand  men  had  surrounded  and  had  in  their  clutch 
less  than  eight  thousand  armed  infantry,  and  the  com 
mander  of  the  eight  thousand,  when  summoned  to  sur 
render,  replied  that  in  his  opinion  the  emergency  for 
that  step  had  not  arisen. 

That  was  on  the  8th.  On  the  morning  of  the  9th, 
as  we  have  said,  the  tragedy  had  reached  the  last 
scene. 

As  the  little  skirmish  line  of  Gordon  mounted  the 
Appomattox  Court  Ilouse  hill,  the  advance  force  of  the 
Federal  army  was  extending  steadily  across  his  front — 
infautry,  cavalry,  and  artillery  barred  the  way. 

Then  a  last  attack  was  made,  and  the  Federal  lines 
were  driven  nearly  half  a  mile.  Raked  by  the  artil 
lery  of  Col.  Carter — that  brave  and  resolute  spirit  — 
their  ranks  were  broken,  and  Gordon  made  his  last 
great  charge.  Before  it  the  huge  mass  fell  back,  but 
then  the  great  wave  returned.  Artillery  thundered, 
musketry  rattled — fainting,  staggering,  dying  of  star 
vation,  the  men  fought  on. 

Then  the  last  moment  came.  The  time  seemed  to 
have  arrived  when  the  Old  Guard  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  under  Gordon  and  Longstreet,  be- 


LJUVB  RETREAT  AND  BURSKXDXR 


beath  the  eye  of  Lee,  wonld  be  called  on  to  shed 
the  last  scene  of  the  war,  the  glory  of  an  heroic  death. 
Longstreet  was  marching  slowly  and  steadily  from  the 
rear  to  the  front.  Every  veteran  grasped  his  musket 
and  moved  on  with  measured  tramp,  —  when  all  at 
once  Gordon's  poor  little  skirmish  line  was  seen  emerg 
ing  from  the  woods,  still  fighting  as  they  retreated  ; 
and  on  the  left,  beyond  the  forest,  a  great  mass  of  dark 
cavalry  came  steadily  on,  with  drawn  sabre,  to  the  work 
of  butchery.  Then,  at  that  last  moment,  something 
like  a  magical  calm,  a  mysterious  silence,  came.  The 
Btorm  lulled  all  at  once,  as  if  at  the  bidding  of  some 
enchanter's  wand  ;  and  on  the  heights  of  Appomattox 
appeared  a  dark-blue  column,  waving  in  front  of  them 
a  white  flag. 

Lee  had  surrendered  the  army.  The  odds  of  one 
hundred  and  thirty  thousand  against  eight  thousand 
was  too  great,  and  the  long  and  terrible  wrestle  ended. 

When  the  old  cavalier  came  back  from  his  inter 
view  with  Grant,  the  men  crowded  around  him  with 
pale  faces,  eyes  full  of  fiery  tears,  and  bosoms  shaken 
by  fierce  sobs.  Does  any  reader  regard  this  picture  as 
overdrawn  ?  Ask  those  who  saw  it  ;  demand  of  any 
one  present  whether  the  firm  hand  of  Lee  was  not 
necessary  to  suppress  the  veritable  rage  of  many,  from 
General  to  private  soldier.  But  Lee  was  still  the  great 
directing  head  of  the  army  ;  what  he  had  done,  all  felt 
was  well  done;  and  the  men  crowded  round  him, 
uttering  hoarse  exclamations. 

"  I  have  done  what  I  thought  was  best  for  yon,"  he 
said;  "  my  heart  is  too  full  to  speak,  imt  I  -wish  you  al) 
health  and  happineu." 


805 


The  day  passed,  then  the  night — on  the  10th  the 
umy  surrendered  formally,  stacked  arms,  abandoned 
their  columns,  and  dispersed  to  their  homes.  The 
Federal  commander  had  acted  throughout  all  with  the 
generosity  of  a  soldier,  and  the  breeding  of  a  gentle 
man.  Not  a  cheer  was  heard,  not  a  band  played  in 
the  Federal  army.  When  far-off  a  shout  rose  over  the 
woods,  one  of  the  Federal  officers  hastened  to  apologize 
for  it 

"That  is  the  rear-guard — those  fellows  did  none  of 
the  fighting,"  he  said. 

As  to  those  who  had  fought — the  veteran  Army  of 
the  Potomac,  tried  in  battle,  in  victory,  in  defeat,  in 
all  the  hard  life  of  the  soldier — they  did  not  cheer 
when  their  old  adversaries  surrendered.  They  were 
silent,  and  saluted  when  a  ragged  Confederate  passed. 
They  felt  what  surrender  must  be  to  the  men  of  that 
army  which  they  had  fought  for  four  years — and  not 
a  cheer  or  a  brass  band  was  heard. 

Why  humiliate  their  old  enemies?  Why  make 
more  bitter  their  misfortune  ? 

On  the  10th  of  April,  1865,  the  old  soldiers  of  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  stretched  the  hands  of  comrades 
to  the  foe  they  had  fought  so  long.  To-day  they  are 
ready  to  do  as  much,  if  the  civilians  would  only  let  them. 
There  is  a  personage  more  ferocious  and  implacable 
than  the  fiercest  soldier — it  is  the  man  who  has  staii 
at  home  and  never  smelt  the  odor  of  powder; — who, 
vhile  the  rest  fought  clapped  his  hands,  crying : 

"  Fight  on,  my  brave  bojs !  You  are  covering  your 
selves  with  glory,  and  we  are  watching  you  I " 

If  the  civilians  had  been  at  Appomattox,  they  would 


iO«  LEB'B  RETREAT  ANL  8URRSJTJ)EA 

have  butchered  or  handcuffed  the  men  of  Lee-  -would 
yon  not,  messieurs  ?  You  would  certainly  have  aplit 
the  air  with  every  brass  band  of  the  army,  and  shouted 
"  Hosannah  "  at  their  humiliation. 

Well,  see  the  difference  between  men  who  fight,  and 
men  who  do  not.  The  old  soldiers  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  kept  quiet — when  Lee  appeared  at  Gen. 
Grant's  quarters,  every  head  was  uncovered.  Victory 
saluted  defeat. 

So  ended  the  war.  "With  Lee's  surrender,  all  other 
armed  resistance  disappeared,  and  the  great  conflict 
which  for  four  years  had  desolated  Virginia,  ter 
minated  suddenly  as  a  tragedy  terminates  at  the  fall 
of  the  curtain. 

We  have  followed  rapidly  the  steps  of  that  gigantic 
struggle ;  looked  on  its  shifting  scenes,  its  varying  for 
tunes.  The  aim  of  the  writer  of  these  pages  has  been 
to  draw  a  truthful  outline  of  the  mighty  wrestle,  and 
to  give  to  friend  and  foe  his  just  due.  If  he  has  been 
unjust,  it  was  not  willingly.  Nothing  has  been  ex 
tenuated  on  the  one  side — on  the  other  naught  ha* 
been  set  down  in  malice.  Of  the  great  American  Ko- 
volution,  the  world  will  doubtless  always  differ  in  their 
views ;  parties  will  hold  opposing  opinions,  and  during 
the  lifetime  of  the  present  generation  those  opinions 
will  doubtless  be  colored  by  the  rancor  of  partisan 
feeling. 

What  men  will  not  differ  about,  however  —  what  all 
will  agree  upon  —  ie  the  reluctance  with  which  the 
great  Commonwealth  of  Virginia  entered  upon  the 
itruggle,  and  the  constancy  and  courage  which  she 
brought  to  tho  long,  bitter,  and  territle  ordeal.  Right 


LESS  RETREAT  AND  SURRENDER. 

or  wrong,  she  was  brave  —  was  she  not  ?  Ask  hei 
desolated  fields,  her  vacant  firesides,  her  broken  hearts 
Prostrate,  panting,  bleeding  at  every  pore,  she  wai 
raithful  to  the  last,  in  defence  of  her  principles ;  and 
rather  than  yield  those  principles,  dear  as  her  heait's 
blood,  she  bared  her  breast  for  four  years  of  destroy 
ing  war,  to  the  torch  and  the  sword  —  the  one  laying 
waste  her  beautiful  fields,  the  other  drinking  the  blood 
of  the  flower  of  her  youth. 

In  that  sombre  conflict  she  dared  all,  risked  all, 
Buffered  all  —  and  to-day  has  lost  all. 

No  1  Her  etainless  escutcheon  is  still  left  to  her  — 
and  her  broken  sword,  which  no  taint  of  bad  faith  or 
dishonor  ever  tarnished. 

That  escutcheon  io  to-day,  as  it  always  was,  the  spot 
less  mirror  of  honor.  In  the  past  it  was  held  aloft  by 
Washington,  the  Father  of  the  Country;  Jefferson, 
the  author  of  the  Declaration ;  Mason,  who  wrote  the 
Bill  of  Rights;  Henry,  the  orator;  Marshall,  the 
Judge;  Taylor,  the  soldier;  Madison,  Monroe,  Ran 
dolph,  Clay  —  Presidents,  statesmen,  soldiers,  orators 
—  working  with  the  pen,  the  tongue,  and  the  sword,  a 
iroik  which  speaks,  and  will  ever  speak  for  them. 

These  men  were  the  supporters  of  the  Virginia 
ibield  in  the  past 

Let  the  world  decide  whether  Lee,  and  his  great 
associates,  were  unworthy  to  follow  them  in  history. 

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